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France, United Kingdom · 2005
Rated R · 1h 29m
Director Ziad Doueiri
Starring Vahina Giocante, Moa Khouas, Karim Ben Haddou, Edmonde Franchi
Genre Crime, Drama, Romance
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An aspiring writer named Chimo falls for Lila, the sexually confident and beautiful French girl who moves into the Parisian neighborhood he grew up in. With her fervid glances and explicit fantasies, Lila engages Chimo in a game of sexual discovery that walks a fine line between innocence and danger.
Lebanon-born director Ziad Doueiri, a camera operator on Quentin Tarantino's films, has a dreamy, fluid style he decorates with light electronic sounds -- from bands like Air -- that give this film more than a touch of youthful poetry.
Unsurprisingly, the camerawork in Lila Says is spectacular.
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Ms. Giocante's intoxicating mixture of gamine innocence and womanly knowingness is almost too much for the movie - Lila is surely too much for Chimo - but her charisma, and Mr. Doueiri's insouciant, heart-on-the-sleeve style give it a mood that is at once breathlessly romantic and cannily down to earth.
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
Superbly acted, especially by Giocante as the teasing 16-year-old instigator.
Easy on the eye but light on originality.
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
Had director Ziad Doueiri focused on the resentful Arab youths who clatter provocatively around the edges of his Marseilles-set drama, he might have discovered something interesting.
This thoroughly engaging, if tragic, love story unfolds like a psychological striptease. The biggest challenge here is not to blush.
One long tease, not just because it keeps promising sex it doesn't deliver. It teases at deeper themes and cultural commentary.
TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh
The story's message is less than profound, but it's vividly delivered.
Village Voice by Melissa Anderson
A misguided tale of sentimental education.
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