A married man and a women who’s divorcing fall madly in love. Starring François Cluzet and Sophie Marceau.

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When Pierre sees Elsa across a crowded room, his heart explodes. His marriage, his children, his perfect life seem suddenly fragile. Elsa has a different reason to resist: in the middle of a divorce, she refuses to become the mistress of a married man. But when they meet again by chance in a Parisian bar, they find themselves unable to deny their desires. And suddenly they see an opportunity for another love, another life…

Liza Azuelos, director of LOL (the French and American versions), has taken care not to take the usual rom-com path. Her screenplay doesn’t bother with the usual dreaded scenes (a woman scorned discovers the truth); it frees itself of the constraints of classic narration (mixing time, between dream and reality), and brings the emotions of its characters together in an ocean of colored light and a clip-like haze. In this way, Une rencontre has a curious but irresistible charm, played to perfection by François Cluzet and especially Sophie Marceau. Nevertheless, in wanting to reflect on love to the point of dissecting it, Azuelos risks making the story seem hollow and her movie a mere anecdote.