Frantz finds writer-director François Ozon thoughtfully probing the aftermath of World War I through the memories and relationships of loved ones left behind.

Set in Germany and France in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, Frantz recalls the mourning period that follows great national tragedies as seen through the eyes of the war’s “lost generation”: Anna, a bereft young German woman whose fiancé, Frantz, was killed during trench warfare, and Adrien, a French veteran of the war who shows up mysteriously in her town, placing flowers on Frantz’s grave. Adrien’s presence is met with resistance by the small community still reeling from Germany’s defeat, yet Anna gradually gets closer to the handsome and melancholy young man. What follows is a surprising exploration of how Ozon’s characters’ wrestle with their conflicting feelings. Set against the backdrop of a defeated Germany, a powerful anti war messages reverberates throughout the film.