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Come Undone

Play trailer Poster for Come Undone R Released Jun 29, 2001 1h 37m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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79% Tomatometer 33 Reviews 67% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy Mathieu (Jeremie Elkaim) is 18-years-old and on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric (Stéphane Rideau) and falls in love. The film, like a dream, flows back and forth between the past and present, often asking us to fill the deliberate jumps in time.

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Come Undone

Critics Reviews

View All (33) Critics Reviews
Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Dec 30, 2006 Full Review Marrit Ingman Austin Chronicle Rated: 3/5 Mar 10, 2003 Full Review Loren King Boston Globe Come Undone is the coming-of-age romance French-style, with emotions nuanced, effects subtle. But it's also achingly slow, at times bleak and, in the end, frustratingly and regrettably, rather pointless. Rated: 2/4 Nov 30, 2001 Full Review Joe Lipsett The Queer Gaze (YouTube) A surprisingly sad look at mental illness and first love, wrapped up in gorgeous (but chilly) French summer beach town aesthetics. Aug 13, 2024 Full Review Jan Stuart The Advocate Sébastien Lifshitz’s Come Undone is the most mature depiction of a young gay male’s romantic awakening I have ever seen. Apr 5, 2022 Full Review Mark Halverson Sacramento News & Review Rated: 2/5 Aug 7, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Gunter B Thoughtful film, with quite explicit frontal nudity and sexuality, telling a story in 2 storylines and quite a few jumps back and forth without explaining them in detail. That leaves you a little buff at the end, but the more detailed consideration of the characters is still fascinating. One is a bit Parisian, snobby, spoiled, from a well-off but broken background, the other a school dropout, fryer jobber and a sexy pick-me-up. They approach each other hesitantly, then impulsively and very physically. But despite all the relaxed nature of this summer love, there remains a growing feeling of disharmony between the protagonists, who come from such different worlds. Both of whom play top notch. In the second 'part', set in winter, which is always interspersed (note the winter sweaters and Mathieu's hair cut, which is then shorter), our Parisian youth seems thoughtful, somewhat mature. Even the teenage face, which previously seemed almost blank, has become more angular and therefore more handsome. While his former boyfriend, it's probably 1.5 years since the Summer Love Affair, Cédric is still in love with him and is frantically looking for him, he avoids contact and draws a cautious, even final, summary. In the end, there is a surprising new affair with one of Cédric's ex-lovers. It remains unclear where it leads, but something new could emerge, while Cédric has apparently not evolved. In this respect it is almost more of a coming of age film than one about coming out, since Mathieu's not yet being out is more the background music of his first summer love than the theme. Almost casually, he comes out to his mother, who takes notice rather than responds. And otherwise very busy with her own depression. A topic that Mathieu later has to deal with - we don't find out exactly why. His suicide attempt with pills - usually more a cry for help than really meant seriously - remains as unclear as the real reason for the end of his first great love. But we learn all the more what it does to you to experience this, to get into love and to fall out love again. And this is the real strength of the film. And it applies universally, not just to a gay loving story. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/23 Full Review Bill K Ugh - what a bore! The plot was dull, the acting was average, the production was ok, but don't waste your time. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/19/20 Full Review Audience Member Come undone a memorable gay film with beautiful direction, great performance, great story, and intimacy Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Audience Member A talented cast of actors forms this movie,with Elkaïm and Rideau leading in the main roles.A summer love story,the result of which we'll never quite learn cause the directional choices,and the "fast forwards" to the future won't let you fully grasp the idea of what happened.The summer romance was really beautifully portrayed from the two leads,who never hesitated for a moment and simply became their characters. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member Achingly slow, bleak, and pointless. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member It's lack of a linear story line - and its lack of an attempt to tie things together - was annoying. I wanted to like this film. In the end I have to give a nod to the director for his explorative take, but was also left wondering what happened. After reviewing some key scenes I think I understand the actual chronology, but I don't know what I'm supposed to take away from this. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/16/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Come Undone

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Story of two gorgeous, young French boys who begin a passionate relationship that boils over and threatens to destroy both their lives. Shy Mathieu (Jeremie Elkaim) is 18-years-old and on summer vacation in the south of France. He spends his days lazily sunning himself at the beach, until he spies the handsome Cédric (Stéphane Rideau) and falls in love. The film, like a dream, flows back and forth between the past and present, often asking us to fill the deliberate jumps in time.
Director
Sébastien Lifshitz
Producer
Cécile Amillat, Jean-Christophe Colson, Christian Tison
Screenwriter
Sébastien Lifshitz, Stéphane Bouquet
Production Co
RTBF, Lancelot Films, Man's Films, arte France Cinéma
Rating
R (Language|Strong Sexuality|Nudity)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Theaters)
Jun 29, 2001, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 11, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$316.8K
Runtime
1h 37m
Sound Mix
Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
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