Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is a suggestive young girl who sends the protagonist into despair, or so it was told... But, if Lolita narrated her memoir, what would she say? This is precisely what Vanessa Filho surprises us with, in her most awaited feature “Consent”, an adaptation of Vanessa Springora’s autobiographical novel.

Paris, 1985. Vanessa is thirteen years old when she meets Gabriel Matzneff, a renowned fifty-year-old writer. The teenager becomes the lover and muse of this man, who is celebrated by the cultural and political world. Losing herself in the relationship, she suffers more and more violently from the destructive influence this predator exercises over her. Her suffering intensifies as Gabriel publishes the intimate details of their relationship to the world, humiliating and subjecting her to public condemnation. Battered and victimized, Vanessa finally musters herself to let the wicked fall into their own nets.

“Consent” is the second collaboration of Filho (“Angel Face”, 2018) and cinematographer Guillaume Schiffman (“The Artist”, 2012). It is provocative and cerebral, an intriguing narrative elevated by exquisite visual language. It is a rare jewel for all cinephiles craving a sincere cinematic experience.

Milani Perera