Lie with Me (Arrête avec tes Mensonges)

 Philippe Besson’s 2017 novel Arrête avec tes mensonges (Lie With Me) was a hit in France, and after a sympathetic translation by Francophile actor Molly Ringwald – yes, that Molly Ringwald - in 2019, this exquisite story of first love quickly became a world-wide best-seller.

Award-winning director Olivier Peyon brings Besson’s original work to the screen in a gorgeous exploration of regret, and the power of luminous first love. When successful author Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) is invited to visit Cognac as a brand ambassador for a distillery, it’s the first time the writer has returned to his provincial French hometown in decades.

When Stéphane meets Lucas (Victor Belmondo), a young man assisting with the tour, and discovers he is the son of his first love, Thomas (Julien de Saint Jean), the author is forced to confront beautiful, yet painful, memories. Lie With Me moves seamlessly between the present and flashbacks to the past, when both young men were forced to make life-changing decisions about their futures. At the heart of this beautiful coming-of-age tale are the questions we all ask ourselves about the decisions we’ve made, and not made, the loves won and lost, and the lives we could have led.

Lie With Me features beautiful cinematography, an excellent script, and a world-class cast in a timeless and poetic story of first love and heartbreak.