Sons & Lovers

Adore, a deliciously absurd erotic drama from the French director Anne Fontaine (Coco Before Chanel, 2009), is one long act of seduction, followed by much postcoital remonstration. Based on a Doris Lessing novella, the film (out September 6) is set on a stretch of Australian coast, where best friends and neighbors Roz (Robin Wright) and Lil (Naomi Watts), in the prime of their Mrs. Robinson years, suddenly find their heads turned by each other’s teenage offspring. Before long, Roz falls into bed with Lil’s son and Lil with Roz’s son. Amid the tangled limbs and feelings (not to mention whiffs of incest), an unusual and fragile family dynamic emerges. At one point, a swooning Lil sulks, “I don’t see why we have to stop.” And so, no one does.

Photos: Matt Nettheim