Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

punishmentpark 'Un poison violent' (literally translated: 'A violent poison'; the title was taken from a song by Serge Gainsbourg) has a lot going on in the lives of quite a few characters in a rural French village, but the focus stays well-proportioned on that of a teenage girl named Anna.Anna experiences many troubles; her devotion to a Catholic life versus a more earthly life (boyfriend, sex, body), her father just left his mother for a younger woman (which causes her mother much grief that rubs off on her as well), she helps nursing her sick grandfather (who is also burdening her with his unadulterated sex-drive) and a close (girl)friend is leaving her for a while. Quite miraculously, all these problems never amount to an indiscernible heap, but each trouble gets its fair share of attention in all of the many small and fragile scenes.There is frequent, but terrific use of a cappella songs, mostly covers (as far as I could tell), such as 'Greensleeves' (a traditional) and 'Creep' (by Radiohead). The film has a very natural feel to it (very French, if that would mean anything), is at times quite melancholic, and - Hallelujah - none too prudish, either. A pleasure to behold as things unfold.A good 8 out of 10.

paul2001sw-1 In 'Love Like Poison', a schoolgirl returns home from boarding school, to face her depressed mother (who advises her, not to never doubt her beauty but rather, that when she doubts her beauty, never to tell a man!), her peripatetic father, a boy who fancies her, her ailing grandfather (who might do the same), and the local parish priest. It's not badly done, but there doesn't seem much point to the story: life (and death) happens, but nothing seems more dramatic or pointed than any particular sequence of real life where you can't quite get everything you want. The use of music in the soundtrack is also overdone, as it seems to be punching at a higher emotional weight than the underlying film. This is not a long film, but it feels more like opening scenes from a real story, over-extended, than a movie in itself.

aethomson Teening can be tough. But most of the angst of adolescence is (for the rest of us, forever having to hear about it) a big yawn. What makes "Love Like Poison" (in French with English subtitles) worth watching? Brace yourself for stress (hers, not yours). It's all a bit too much (and too much all at once) for this fourteen year old girl: her parents are splitting up, her grandad is on his deathbed, her confirmation (Catholic) is looming, and then there's physical maturing at a gallop, an ambiguous relationship with her mother, an ambiguous relationship with the local priest, an ambiguous relationship with a local boy who seems to be even younger than she is. You name it, the agony is piled on. And yet the luminous personality of Anna (Clara Augarde) shines through. This isn't a splurge of self pity. We care about what's happening to her, because she's worth caring about.Anna is intense. In past ages her vocation would have been obvious: she would become a nun. The "burden of spirituality" weighs upon her - she literally faints when it overwhelms. But who or what will win her soul? - God and the ache of her idealistic young spirit (she encounters an appealing "young church" and an unappealing "old church"); or will it be the sharp tingle of the body, symbolised by her sensual grandfather (who wants her to read an erotic poem at his funeral); or will it be the love she has for her agreeable but ineffectual father; or the love she has for her dominating mother (who is experiencing her own crisis of identity); or will it be possible for Anna to achieve a level of autonomy and win her own soul? From French cinema we expect tension, balance and clarity. The subtlety in "Love Like Poison" seems to demand that we watch it at least twice, in order to fit all the pieces together properly. But do the pieces fit? - that will depend on you.

writers_reign You probably need to be in the mood to get the best out of yet another bildungsroman. In terms of pace it's like Erich Rohmer on crutches; in terms of plot it's like Erich Rohmer stuck for ideas. In no particular order Anna, a young girl at Convent school returns home for the holidays to learn that her father has taken it on the Jesse Owens, possibly with another woman, leaving her mother devastated and seeking solace with a local priest who is also a family friend. Meanwhile in terms of old life grandfather is dying by inches and in terms of new life there's a boy of Anna's age in close proximity. And that's about it. Nothing much happens and takes its time about it. On the right day the viewer will find something in it that speaks to him; on the wrong day ... well, let's not go there.