I loved almost everything about this movie.
It does't tell a particularly interesting or original story, but the way it's told and how it makes one feel part of it is fantastic. Adèle's extreme close-ups make the feeling of not fitting in palpable. She's always looking the other way, thinking about something else, but also smiling and trying to make a good impression. Anyone who feels uncomfortable among a group of strangers immediately can relate. It's the claustrophobic sense that one's own inner world is more important than what's going on outside.

That same introversion characterises the way that Adèle handles her problems; always hiding them from the outside eye and with difficulty opening up to others. Here is maybe my one complain. At the beginning of the film, it's shown that Adèle has a very healthy relationship with her friend Valentin. He understands her problems and conflicts and she's willing to share them with him. So why does he completely disappear in the second part of the movie, specially when she's in most need of support? She feels lonely, rejected and alienated from her partner and channels that frustration with an affair with her coworker instead of talking to her loved ones. I think that's a strange and problematic omission.

But apart from that, it's amazing how this film shows the emotions that run trough Adèle. Besides the aforementioned introversion, the same extreme close-ups are used to perfectly capture the lover's gaze. The way one looks closely and attentively to every detail of the other person's skin, lips and eyes. Either the nervous look before a first kiss or the relaxing blissfulness after making love. It's really perfect.

The same can be said about the frustration and extreme sadness after the breakup. Adèle moves on with her life, but it's filled with this consistent and permanent sub-surface pain that feels with full force when she's alone.

This a movie I won't forget and I'll probably watch multiple times in the future.