Love (2015 film)

Murphy is an American cinema school student, living in Paris. He had a French girlfriend, called Electra, whom he dated for two years. One day, Murphy and Electra met and had a no-strings-attached threesome with another woman, a young blonde Danish teenager named Omi, as a way to add some excitement to their love life. But later, Murphy had sex with Omi behind Electra's back, as a result of which Omi became pregnant (the condom broke and she is against abortion). This unplanned pregnancy ended the relationship between Murphy and Electra, and it forced Murphy to live with Omi.

On a rainy 1 January morning, Electra's mother, Nora, phones Murphy at the small Paris apartment where he lives with Omi and their 18-month-old son, Gaspar. Nora asks Murphy if he has heard from Electra. Nora has not heard from her for three months; given Electra's suicidal tendencies, Nora is quite worried about her. For the rest of this day, Murphy recalls his relationship with Electra in a series of fragmented, nonlinear flashbacks. Those flashbacks depict their first meeting in Paris; their quick hookup; and their lives over the next two years, which are filled with drug abuse, rough sex and tender moments. Electra's whereabouts and ultimate fate are left unresolved.

Love is the screen debut of the film's two main actresses, Muyock and Kristin.[7] Noé met them in a club. He found Karl Glusman for the role of Murphy through a mutual friend.[8] The budget of the film was approximately €2.6 million.[1] Principal photography took place in Paris.[6] Noé has said that the film's screenplay was seven pages long.[9]

In a pre-release interview with Marfa Journal, Noé implied that the film would have an explicitly sexual feel. He asserted that it would "give guys a hard-on and make girls cry".[10]

The film is notable for its unsimulated sex scenes.[9][11][12] According to NPR, "roughly half of Gaspar Noe's Love consists of raw, unsimulated sex acts – presented in 3D, no less".[13] In most cases, the sex scenes were also not choreographed.[14]

The week before its debut at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, the film's U.S. distribution rights were acquired by Alchemy.[15][16] It was selected to be screened in the Vanguard section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival.[17] The film also screened in The International Film Festival of Kerala, held in Thiruvananthapuram.[18]

The film was refused a license to be screened in Russia.[19]

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 40% with an average rating of 5/10, based from 93 reviews. The website's critics consensus states: "Love sees writer-director Gaspar Noé delivering some of his warmest and most personal work; unfortunately, it's also among his most undeveloped and least compelling."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 51 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[21]

• Love at IMDb
• Love at Box Office Mojo
• Love at Rotten Tomatoes
• Love at Metacritic