Watch an exclusive clip from Lie With Me, the new gay drama unlike anything else

New French language film Lie With Me explores the tenderness and fragility of young queer love, and the devastating impact of having to keep that romance a secret.

PinkNews can exclusively reveal a new clip from Olivier Peyon’s new film as it launches in UK and Irish cinemas and on streaming platforms.

Based on the critically-acclaimed, best-selling novel by French writer Philippe Besson, Lie With Me tells the story of novelist Stéphane Belcourt (Guillaume de Tonquédec) as he returns to his small, humdrum hometown after more than 35 years away.

He’s been invited to become a brand ambassador for the town’s famous cognac distillery, and while the trip starts as a business-as-usual affair, he is soon confronted with the ghosts of his past and has to contend with a ruinous queer romance from his teen years.

While at an ambassador event, he meets one of the distillery’s company executives, Lucas (Victor Belmondo, grandson of legendary French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo).

Stéphane soon learns that Lucas is the son of Thomas (Julien De Saint Jean), a friend from his youth who he embarked on a passionate and highly secretive love affair with when they were just teenagers.

Due to strict anti-LGBTQ+ attitudes at the time, the pair kept their love hidden – and Thomas refused to acknowledge it outside of their delicate personal encounters.

Flashbacks to their time together reveals the deep wounds left by keeping their feelings private, while in the present day, both Stéphane and Lucas have to reflect on their relationship with Thomas, who has since left them both.

In a new clip, shared exclusively with PinkNews, Thomas brutally scolds a young Stéphane (Jérémy Gillet) for arriving at this house without warning, for fear that his dad might spot them together and catch wind of their romance.

“Life here and with you are different things. They’re different worlds,” Thomas says, evidently deeply ashamed of his queer feelings.

“I’m not with you. I told you all along. This stays between us,” he adds, getting breathless and violent, before going in for an impassioned kiss. 

The film, which has been dubbed “a moving meditation on the intoxicating force of first love” and a French version of Brokeback Mountain, has garnered praise from critics worldwide.

City A.M. film editor Victoria Luxford touted it as a “gracefully told, touching gay drama”, while Loud and Clear reviewer Laney Gibbons called it “an exquisite coming-of-age story” and a “beautiful film that warms your heart”.

Lie With Me is out in UK and Irish cinemas today (18 August) via Peccadillo Pictures.