“Bonjour Tristesse” works best as a sustained mood, as an evocation of long summer days that might not actually exist outside Eric Rohmer films and fashion magazine photo shoots. The studied ennui by the sea is oh-so French: That’s the setting of writer-director Durga Chew-Bose’s feature debut. “Bonjour Tristesse” is the Canadian filmmaker’s take on Françoise Sagan’s 1954 coming-of-age novel, which Otto Preminger already adapted memorably with his 1958 drama starring David Niven, Deborah Kerr, and a pre-“Breathless” Jean Seberg.  The bones of the story remain the same, but the tone is different from the start. Whereas Preminger’s “Bonjour Tristesse” created an early feeling of tension with its ominous flashback structure, Chew-Bose allows us to luxuriate in the sun-dappled splendor of a summer afternoon in the south of France. That’s where 18-year-old Cécile (Lily McInerny) is on holiday with her widower father, Raymond (a charmingly roguish Claes Bang), and his latest, much-younger girlfriend, Elsa (Naïlia Harzoune). – RogerEbert.com

“Without Chloë Sevigny, this new “Bonjour Tristesse” would be a pleasant surprise, a confident announcement from a new filmmaker. With her, it has a fierce undertow.” – Style Weekly