Germany, 1919. In a small town trying like the rest of the country to resume a normal life, each day Anna visits the grave of her fiancé Frantz, who died on the battlefield. Living with her in-laws, she refuses to forget the man she loved, living in painful mourning. Until she meets by chance Adrien, a Frenchman who is also visiting Frantz’s grave. The presence of this stranger changes Anna’s life.

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François Ozon makes a lot of movies, but are they any good? Similar to Woody Allen, Ozon has made one per year since 2009 without offering consistent quality and despite taking risks and having the ability to juggle genres. In the wake of the comedy Potiche, the thriller In the House, and the sensual dramas Young and Beautiful and The New Girlfriend, this period love story is a loose remake of Ernst Lubitsch’s 1932 movie Broken Lullaby. Shooting in black and white, François Ozon has fun with the form, while Paula Beer’s performance underscores his love of complex women. But Frantz, like lead Pierre Niney, is not always convincing, as it suffers from austere mise en scène and longwinded dialogues.