The genius of Breillat’s storytelling and visual concept, with cinematography that bathes Anne in benign light, lies in the fact that her morality is impossible to pin down.

Catherine Breillat's story of forbidden love will slide under your skin.

Last Summer isn’t sexually explicit in the manner of some of Breillat’s earlier features, such as the 1999 Romance. All the same, it’s a provocation, as well as a gripping story.

Last Summer ultimately unnerves and agitates the source material’s inherent provocations.