Director Céline Sciamma’s sparse, atmospheric debut captures the cruel and bewildering world of female adolescence with uncanny accuracy. It should’ve stuck with original title The Birth Of Octopuses; the thrashing limbs of the 15-year-old synchronised swimmers it centres on (acted by a host of convincing newbies) being the perfect accompaniment to their intense, clumsy awakenings of sexual desire. In a Paris suburb where ad♔ults are absent, skinny, quiet Marie ditches her chubby pal Anne (Louise Blachère) to hang with Floriane (Adele Haenel), whose precocious come-hither looks make her the reluctant object of girls’ jealousy and guys’ advances. Some scenes coul⛦d’ve been gratuitous were it not for the film’s cold restraint, but the slow pace bottles a sense of that age when time seems to stretch endlessly.