The Way You Want Me

Claire (Juliette Binoche) is desperate. After being left by her husband for a younger woman, her affair with the much younger Ludo also seems to be heading for the certain end. The single mother knows that at 50 years old, she can no longer keep up with her younger suitors. To be on the safe side, she wants to spy on Ludo on Facebook. To do this, she creates a fake profile and comes into contact with Alex (François Civil), Ludo's best friend. He is quickly fascinated by the supposedly 24-year-old Clara and a lively exchange develops between the two, which soon becomes a virtual flirtation. Claire tries to keep up the nice appearance of the virtual world, but Alex wants to break out of it and meet Clara for real. Now Claire must make a grave decision.

Very loosely based on a novel by Camille Laurens, director Safy Nebbou's The Way You Want Me tells the story of a woman who desperately clings to the feeling of being wanted in her affair with a younger man - a feeling robbed from her by her husband. It is the story of a woman who then loses herself in a lie, as the life she lives in the anonymity of the internet seems much more passionate, intimate and sensual than reality. But when reality catches up with her, she is unwilling to give up her dream, so reality and wishful thinking become more and more intermingled.

The whole thing becomes a What If. Scenario that has some unexpected twists in store. As a viewer, at some point you yourself don't know what is really happening and what is going on in the mind of the literature lecturer. Safy Nebbou nevertheless succeeds in making every moment seem emotionally big. There are two moments in particular that should lose power due to the fact that they might not be reality. Still, they work very well and hit the audience right in the heart.

In principle, what Claire is doing is absolutely reprehensible. Yet you can also kind of understand her, so that every time there's a hint of a happy ending, you wish that somehow there can be a future for Claire and Alex. Juliette Binoche's strong performance in particular lends the story its credibility. As You Want Me is a stirring romantic drama about loneliness, longings and love in the age of the internet. Absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp