The French film Une nouvelle amie was shown in the U.S. with the title The New Girlfriend. It was written and directed by François Ozon.

Claire and Laura were best friends for life. Tragically, Laura dies suddenly, leaving her husband David and their infant daughter bereft of wife and mother. Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) visits David (Romain Duris) unannounced, and she is amazed that he is wearing Laura's clothes. We learn that David enjoys cross-dressing, and he (as Virginia) and Claire become BFF's.

That means there's a triangle, or quadrangle, depending on your point of view. We have Clare and her husband, and David, and/or Virginia. The rest of the movie plays out around these relationships.

As I write this review, the film has an IMDb rating of only 6.6. I think it's much better than that, and I hope potential viewers won't be turned away by the underrating of this film.

We saw Une nouvelle amie on the large screen as part of the great ImageOut, the Rochester LGBTQ Film Festival. It will work very well on the small screen. Find it and see it!

"The New Girlfriend" is a film that will most likely challenge many viewers. After all, it presents some aspects of human sexuality that clearly will offend some and the film is filled with nudity. However, it is very well made in interesting throughout.

The picture begins with a lovely montage in which you see two young girls, Laura and Claire, as they meet, become best friends, spend their adolescent, teen and adult lives together. Each marries and Laura has a baby...and things look great. But then the young mother, Laura, dies and naturally everyone is bereft.

Some time passes and Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) goes to check in on Laura's husband, David (Romain Duris) and is shocked to find that he is dressed as a woman. He makes an excuse that he's dressed like a woman to make it easier for the baby...but it soon becomes clear that he's been dressing like a woman for years....just not publicly.

Through the course of the film, David/Virginia and Claire become close friends...very close friends. She helps him play the role of Virginia better but there is a problem...Claire's own sexuality is uncertain. She fantasizes about David being gay, though throughout the film he appears straight...even when he is Virginia. But her own feelings and orientation are quite vague.

The film explores the wide range of human sexuality and experience and does it quite well. It is very well acted and directed. My only qualm is one flashback scene where you see David undressing and caressing his dead wife...it's pretty disturbing and unnecessary. Overall, a well made film that leaves lots and lots of questions unanswered and might also leave the viewer a bit disturbed as well.

This movie had two strikes on it in my case; I don't much care for Francois Ozon and I positively dislike Romain Duris. What luck then that if boasts a standout performance from Anais Demoustier and a tasty supporting role from Aurore Clemente. Opening with Demoustier's Claire speaking at the funeral of her best friend Laura, an opening reel then limns in their lifelong attachment from their initial meeting aged seven in nursery school to Laura's untimely death six months after giving birth to Lucie. From the pulpit Claire vows that she will honour her deathbed promise to Laura to watch over Lucie, to whom she is godmother, and David. Though we are never privy to the circumstances both Laura and Claire appear to have landed on their feet spouse-wise and when Claire makes an initial call on David and Lucie she finds them in a house with what appears to have six or seven bedrooms, completely detached and with its own driveway. Despite this there is apparently no domestic help - odd with a six-month old baby in residence - and when no one answers the door Claire walks in and finds David in drag feeding the baby. After this the film has nowhere to go and turns into a one-trick pony. Initially repulsed Claire grows to accept David's transvestism, meeting him for clandestine shopping trips and 'girls nights out', deceiving her own husband Gilles. Duris fails to convince as either male or female but Demoustier is incandescent and single-handedly saves the film.