The Beautiful Person 2008

Following the death of her mother, 16-year-old Junie Léa Seydoux transfers to the school where her cousin Mathias attends. She instantly attracts the attention of several classmates, especially the shy, sensitive Otto. In Italian class, a recording of Maria Callas singing Lucia plays, and Junie bursts out crying, leaving her belongings behind. The teacher, Nemours, notices a photo of her that had been taken by another student and pockets it. From that moment, Nemours becomes preoccupied with Junie, a fixation powerful enough to sever his ties with Florence Perrin Valérie Lang and with Marie Agathe Bonitzer.

During a field trip, Nemours swaps seats with Mathias, a switch that sparks a rumor mill when a letter left on the seat circulates through the student body. The note is believed by everyone to be a confession from Nemours, stirring jealousy and confusion. Junie reads the letter and grows certain that Nemours is in love with someone else. Mathias confronts Nemours and reveals the truth: the letter is actually from another boy named Martin who asked Mathias to pretend it belonged to the teacher.

As tensions rise, Otto’s friends from the Russian-language class are asked to surveil Junie after she grows distant and sees Nemours tender with her. A mistaken belief about a kiss drives Otto to confront Junie, who denies any romance. The aftermath of this misunderstanding casts a pall over the school, and Otto tragically ends his life by leaping from a high floor.

Junie withdraws from school for three weeks, a silence that ends only when Nemours tells Mathias he will take sick leave until the semester’s end. Nemours begins to shadow Junie once more, and she decides to engage him directly. They are seen roaming the city in a childlike rush, and he invites her back to his room for a conversation about love. He then escorts her home, and they arrange a date for 5:00 p.m. the next day. Yet the night unfolds with uncertain timing: seven o’clock arrives, Nemours calls Mathias, who arrives to deliver sobering news—Junie had left the day before, and the path to finding her is now closed. Nemours is told to forget about her. The story closes with Junie spotted boarding a ship, hinting at a future far from the life she briefly explored.