The third film of Éric Rohmer’s Comedies and Proverbs series, Pauline at the Beach is a sultry diorama of summer flings and the fictions people concoct about so-called love. When Marion (Arielle Dombasle) takes her teenage cousin Pauline (Amanda Langlet, who also stars in A Summer’s Tale) on holiday to a coastal town in Manche, the two find themselves tangled in a romantic net with fellow beach-goers. While Marion is set on the idea of love at first sight, Pauline sees things clearer, yet neither are prepared for the turmoil one little lie will spell for all.

Typical of an Éric Rohmer holiday, Pauline at the Beach plays out its giddy dramatic games in gorgeous locales amidst languid summer pleasures. Between all the beach swims, al fresco breakfasts, windsurfing lessons, happy coincidences and fleeting promiscuities, this installment explores the adage “A wagging tongue bites itself” and the ways characters delude themselves in self preservation and deceive each other for their own jealous or lecherous means. Beneath all the sun beams and sea salt lies a bittersweet realisation about the cruel, sad nature of the adult world.