Anna (Clara Augarde) returns from boarding school to discover that her mother Jeanne (chanteuse Lio, THE LAST MISTRESS) has left her father Paul (Thierry Neuvic, CODE UNKNOWN) and is staying with his parents. Her lusty grandfather (Michel Galabru, SUBWAY) is dying, her best friend Sabine (Margaux Louineau) is vacationing with some cousins, and her father has a new woman in his life. A week away from her confirmation, Anna finds her faith shaken by her parent's marital strife and her own growing physical attraction to choir boy Pierre (Youen Leboulanger-Gourvil). The advice on faith that she receives from Father Francois (Stefano Cassetti, ROBERTO SUCCO) - a childhood friend of her mother's - is well-meaning but hollow and her depressed mother's advice on love is even more dispiriting (and if Anna didn't have body image problems before...). As Anna's confirmation nears, she finds much to make her genuinely ponder her beliefs.

Although very slight in plot or incident, LOVE LIKE POISON is an interesting not-quite-coming-of-age drama in which the usual teen angst is for Anna a test of faith. Growing adolescent awareness of physical attraction clash with previous notions of purely spiritual love as Anna's friendship with Pierre grows awkward (her friend Sabine is also more excited about spending the holidays with a male cousin than sad about not being able to spend time with her) and her parents become more candid in response to her questions about how they first fell in love and the things that are driving them apart. Through Anna's relationship with her dying grandfather she becomes more aware of both sides of mortality (it takes her quite a bit of the running time to figure out his dying wish to be taken back to where he came from), and gets another perspective on love (which includes the old man's memories of her parents' early happiness). Outside of her purview, the film also shows the viewer the frailty of each of the characters who are still dealing with such momentous issues even as they downplay their importance to Anna. Newcomer Augarde is intense in the lead, the other performers do their best with what little they are given (out of necessity as most of the film is told from Anna's perspective). The use of English and American folk music against the French pastoral setting is perhaps more novel for English-speaking audiences, but the use of Chorale Scala's cover of Radiohead's "Creep" heard over the end credits (as well as the film's trailer) is an effective choice to sum up Anna's feelings of otherness.