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Love at Second Sight (2019 film)

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Love at Second Sight
Film poster
FrenchMon Inconnue
Directed byHugo Gélin
Written byHugo Gélin
Igor Gotesman
Benjamin Parent
Starring
Production
companies
Distributed by
  • Mars Films (France)[1]
  • Belga Films SA (Belgium)[1]
Release dates
Running time
118 minutes[1]
Countries
Languages
  • French
  • English
Box office$6 million[3]

Love at Second Sight (French: Mon Inconnue, lit. 'My Stranger') is a 2019 French-Belgian romantic comedy film directed by Hugo Gélin, starring François Civil, Joséphine Japy and Benjamin Lavernhe.[4] The film made its world premiere at the L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival on 18 January 2019,[5] where Civil received the Best Actor award.[6] It was released theatrically in France by Mars Films on 3 April 2019.[2] It won the Swann d'Or for Best Film at the 2019 Cabourg Film Festival. Benjamin Lavernhe was nominated for the César Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the film.

Plot

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Raphaël is a student who writes a science fiction novel during his school lessons, but doesn't dare showing it to anyone. One day he falls in love with Olivia, another student, who is a promising pianist. Raphaël rewrites his novel, incorporating a new character based on Olivia. With Olivia's help, Raphaël becomes a famous sci-fi writer. The two marry, but soon Raphaël gradually distances himself from Olivia, who abandons her career path and becomes a school music teacher.

One evening, Raphaël, finalising his sequel novel, decides to kill off the female character he based on Olivia, and on the same night, he has a huge argument with her. After a snowstorm, the next morning, Raphaël finds himself in a parallel world in which Olivia has never met him and doesn't even know who he is. In this world, she is now a successful and famous pianist while he is a literature teacher who has never completed his novel.

Having realised what has happened, Raphaël attempts to return to his former world. With the help of his best friend Félix, he learns more about his life in this world and manages to talk to Olivia. However, he discovers she is now in a relationship with her manager, Marc. Under the false pretext of writing her biography, Raphaël spends more time with Olivia and makes her fall for him again. Still, Olivia accepts Marc's proposal when he asks her to marry him, and tells Raphaël she wishes she met him years ago.

In a last attempt to get his life back, Raphaël rewrites his sequel novel with a different end, and guesses that Olivia reading it may be the key to reverse the reality. He then gives it to Olivia and asks her to read it as a last favour. When she starts reading the novel, it begins to snow like the night they had the argument. As a result, Raphaël understands his theory is working. But, as he is reminiscing his whole love story with Olivia, he realises she is maybe better off without him. While Olivia is performing on stage, he takes back the novel before she can finish it, and chooses to stay in this world where Olivia appears happier. At the end, Olivia decides to leave Marc, and joins Raphaël to kiss him in a final scene.

Cast

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Filming

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Filming took place in Paris between 16 January 2018 and 18 March 2018.[8]

Reception

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AlloCiné, a French cinema website, gave the film an average rating of 3.9/5, based on a survey of 25 French reviews.[9]

50% of the eight reviews compiled by Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average rating of 4.7/10.[10]

Box office

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The film debuted at number 5 at the French box office, with 209,564 admissions.[11] It sold a total of 559,126 tickets after 13 weeks in cinemas in France and grossed $5.9 million worldwide.[12][3]

Love at Second Sight was the first French film to be released in China since the COVID-19 pandemic.[13] It was the second most successful French film at the international box office (behind The Wolf and the Lion) in April 2022.[13] It garnered 261,000 admissions and €1.17 million at the Chinese box office until December 2022.[14]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award / Festival Category Nominee Result Ref.
2019 L'Alpe d'Huez Film Festival Best Actor François Civil Won [15]
Cabourg Film Festival Swann d'Or for Best Film Hugo Gélin Won [16]
2020 César Awards Best Supporting Actor Benjamin Lavernhe Nominated [17]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Love at Second Sight". Cineuropa. Archived from the original on 27 August 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Monin, Christine (6 April 2019). "Trois raisons d'aller voir le film «Mon inconnue»". Le Parisien (in French). Archived from the original on 30 July 2021. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Love at Second Sight". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  4. ^ ""Mon inconnue" : cette comédie romantique fantastique française divise les critiques du "Masque / la Plume"". France Inter (in French). 8 April 2019. Archived from the original on 15 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  5. ^ "FAH2019 - Festival de l'Alpe d'Huez" (PDF). festival-alpedhuez.com (in French). 3 January 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  6. ^ "Lisa Azuelos, Sandrine Kiberlain et François Civil: découvrez le palmarès du Festival du film de l'Alpe d'Huez". Europe 1 (in French). 19 January 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  7. ^ "Décès de l'actrice Edith Scob". Critique-film.fr (in French). 2 June 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. ^ "Love at Second Sight | Feature Film | 2018-2019 | Comedy, Romance". Crew United. Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  9. ^ "Critiques presse pour le film Mon Inconnue". AlloCiné (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  10. ^ "Love at Second Sight". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Box Office France - Semaine du mercredi 3 avril 2019". AlloCiné (in French). Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Box Office du film "Mon Inconnue"". AlloCiné (in French). Archived from the original on 9 January 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  13. ^ a b "French films at the international box office: April 2022". UniFrance. 16 May 2022. Archived from the original on 8 October 2022. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  14. ^ "French films at the international box office: December 2022". UniFrance. 20 January 2023. Archived from the original on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  15. ^ "Festival du film de comédie de l'Alpe d'Huez : le palmarès dévoilé !". Le Dauphiné Libéré (in French). 19 January 2019. Archived from the original on 27 July 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  16. ^ "Découvrez le palmarès du 33e festival du film romantique de Cabourg". France Bleu (in French). 16 June 2019.
  17. ^ "Mon Inconnue". Académie des César (in French). Archived from the original on 19 February 2023. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
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