---
title: "Love: the reviews"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/love/reviews"
title_page: "https://film.one/film/love"
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 22
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Love (2015): what the critics said

Critics' score 58 from 22 reviews: 8 positive, 8 mixed, 6 negative.

The consensus on Love is mixed, though praise repeatedly centres on the filming of its explicit sex scenes. The reviews find tenderness, melancholy and careful lighting and choreography in material that might otherwise seem merely provocative; several see Noé’s treatment of sexual intimacy as unusually frank about how relationships work. Even some sceptical critics admire the dreamy imagery and 3D effects, while supporters find the recollection of a lost relationship poignant rather than simply self-absorbed.

Reservations cluster around thin characters, awkward dialogue, uneven performances and a length that tests even sympathetic reviewers. The spread is wide: critics disagree over whether the film gives its sexual encounters enough emotional weight, and whether its fragmented storytelling deepens the sense of memory or makes the drama harder to follow. RogerEbert.com finds a mournful exploration of sensuality in the flashbacks, whereas Total Film considers the fractured chronology confused and the performances hollow.

## Variety — Peter Debruge

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2015. Festival review. 

Noé delivers a courageously personal, semi-autobiographical account of an aspiring filmmaker torn between two women that explores the emotional foundation of sex more honestly than most films. The explicit 3-D result proves surprisingly tame and soft-core for the director, fulfilling the lead character’s ambition of depicting sentimental sexuality.

[Read the review](https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/love-review-gaspar-noe-cannes-1201502134/)

## Vulture

Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 31 October 2015. 

Praises how the film makes sex look awesome and sad in all the right ways, calling the entrapment vivid and poignant despite its solipsistic world.

[Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2015/10/3d-love-makes-sex-look-awesome-and-sad.html)

## RogerEbert.com — Simon Abrams

Fi1m's normalised score 75/100 (inferred from the text). 30 October 2015. 

The film unsentimentally depicts a past sexual relationship through fragmented flashbacks from the perspective of an unlikeable protagonist trapped in an unsatisfying present. It succeeds as a mannered, mournful exploration of sensuality and memory when viewed as an over-determined work about characters seeking escape in the past.

[Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/love-2015)

## Financial Times — Danny Leigh

Fi1m's normalised score 74/100 (inferred from the text). 19 November 2015. 

The critic describes the film as sad and smudgy, praising Noé’s conjuring of drug-induced memories of a former relationship through its explicit scenes and visual style. He notes the potent 3D effects amid the story of a ruinous relationship.

[Read the review](https://www.ft.com/content/7a54fcea-8eab-11e5-a549-b89a1dfede9b)

## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan

Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 20 November 2015. 

After a slow start, Noé’s self-referential soap proves more-ish. It highlights Electra as a convincingly vulnerable aspiring artist and lover-of-threesomes, and praises the novelty of allowing a heroine to have rotten-looking teeth.

[Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/love-3d-film-review-nothing-new-about-sex-but-the-teeth-are-a-novelty-a3119726.html)

## The AV Club — Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Rating C+. 22 May 2015. Festival review. 

It's woodenly earnest with on-the-nose dialogue and amateur actors, but fitfully compelling as an exercise in limited style and psychological interiority.

[Read the review](https://www.avclub.com/from-cannes-new-films-by-gaspar-noe-paolo-sorrentino-1798279879)

## Little White Lies — Jordan Cronk

Rating 4/3/3. 18 November 2015. 

Noé returns with his most controversial and compassionate movie yet, surprisingly tender and tasteful. The film finds the director having a little fun at his own expense while indulging expected delights with newfound humour and humanity.

[Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/love)

## Time Out — Dave Calhoun

Rating 3/5. 20 May 2015. 

More silly than sordid and even a little soppy in its late love-filled moments; many teens will love it while most adults will roll their eyes. The film creates a base nocturnal atmosphere effectively and has some strong non-sex moments, but is undermined by self-regarding elements.

[Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/love-4)

## The Hollywood Reporter — Leslie Felperin

Fi1m's normalised score 55/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 2015. Festival review. 

The critic finds the emotional story shallow and ineffective due to an unlikeable protagonist, but praises the technical panache and beautiful sex scenes.

[Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/love-cannes-review-797320/)

## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 19 November 2015. 

The critic finds Noé’s 3D sex drama a doomy, porny melodrama of erotic despair that is more to be laughed or groaned with than at, despite over-the-top acting. He singles out the director’s signature visual techniques and the effective dreamlike editing for praise.

[Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/19/love-review-3d-sex-gaspar-noe)

## The New York Times — Jeannette Catsoulis

Fi1m's normalised score 50/100 (inferred from the text). 29 October 2015. 

Noé aims to tell a romance entirely through unsimulated sex, achieving a dreamy eroticism and touching innocence that strips the material of salaciousness. The result is ultimately exasperatingly one-dimensional, with nothing left to build characters or plot beyond the fornication.

[Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/30/movies/review-love-gaspar-noes-romance-told-through-sex.html)

## Los Angeles Times — Robert Abele

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2015. 

The raw tale of lost passion is a noble misfire whose explicit 3-D sex scenes become tedious voyeurism because the characters remain thinly conceived flesh avatars. When it works, it achieves a lulling, melancholic frenzy about sex and memory, but the foundation is too weak to sustain the length.

[Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-love-movie-review-20151106-story.html)

## Screen Daily

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2015. Festival review. 

The critic finds the film invents a new, singularly unsatisfying genre of 'chill-out porn'. It is more claustrophobic than enlightening or arousing, tame compared to Nymphomaniac but lacking its ambition and wit.

[Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/love-review/5087454.article)

## Total Film — Jamie Graham

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2015. Festival review. 

Too long at 135 minutes with a fractured time scheme that is a hard-to-follow mess, further hampered by English-language performances that feel hollow. It has some indelible sequences but overall feels rather limp compared to Noé’s earlier work.

[Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/love-reaction-cannes-2015/)

## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez

Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 25 October 2015. 

Calls the film the cine-equivalent of clickbait and criticizes its one-note antagonistic style and narcissistic self-absorption.

[Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/love-2015/)

## Paste — Tim Grierson

Rating 7.9/10. 22 May 2015. Festival review. 

The critic calls the film too long and self-indulgent but transporting and fun if one accepts its wavelength, praising its rare focus on how a couple's sexual life reflects their relationship dynamics.

[Read the review](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/love-2015-cannes-review)

## Collider — Phil Brown

Rating B-. 10 September 2015. Festival review. 

The critic finds the film intriguing as a middle ground between art and smut despite its length and 3D gimmicks, praising its surprisingly realistic and tender depiction of a messy adult relationship.

[Read the review](https://collider.com/love-movie-review-tiff-2015/)

## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff

Rating B-. 21 May 2015. Festival review. 

The overlong, self-indulgent film has many flaws including weak acting, risible dialogue, and problematic politics around gender and sexuality, yet it features beautifully lit and choreographed sex scenes with lyrical visuals enhanced by 3D. It represents a softer, more sentimental side of Noé focused on 'sentimental sexuality' rather than pure transgression, leaving some fans potentially underwhelmed but still diverting and occasionally dazzling.

[Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/cannes-review-gaspar-noes-hardcore-and-softhearted-love-20150521/)

## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh

Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 22 May 2015. Festival review. 

The film is not as shocking as its marketing suggested and falls short of being Noé's best or most transgressive work, with some characters lacking realistic grounding and the runtime feeling long. It earns praise for eye-popping 3D effects, tender intimate moments between leads, and successfully integrating explicit sex into a mainstream context.

[Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/cannes-2015-love-review/)

## The Wrap

Fi1m's normalised score 58/100 (inferred from the text). 5 November 2015. 

The critic finds the film gorgeously shot and conceived but repetitive and exhausting over its long runtime. They single out the explicit sex scenes for understanding want and need while noting a lack of emotional complexity or investment in the characters.

[Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/love-review-gaspar-noe/)

## Eye for Film — Richard Mowe

Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). 21 May 2015. Festival review. 

Stripped of its extensive sex scenes the film reduces to a stilted, unrealistic love story with trite dialogue and unmotivated characters that lacks the emotional power of Noé's earlier work like Irreversible. The graphic but mostly tasteful sex is well-shot and central, making it a joyous celebration of sexuality in a melodrama format.

[Read the review](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/love-2015-film-review-by-richard-mowe)

## The Skinny — Philip Concannon

Rating ★★. 5 January 2016. 

The critic praises the intimate, frank, and skillfully shot sex scenes as a highlight worth celebrating. Everything else falls short due to blank characters, platitudinous dialogue, interminable fights, and a script that fails to deliver emotional or intellectual depth.

[Read the review](https://www.theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews/love)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/love.md