What happens when a teenager is suddenly outed as gay? That question, almost unknown before the 1980s, frames the plot in You'll Get Over It (in French, À cause d'un garçon), directed by Fabrice Cazeneuve from a script, presumably autobiographically, written by Vincent Molina. Seventeen-year-old Vincent Molina (played by Julien Baumgartner) is at the center of what becomes a storm. As the top scholar and swimmer in his high school swim team in a Parisian suburb, he is looked up to by his parents, gym coach, and teachers, but not necessarily by all his teammates, who kid him that he must be gay because he does not take off his swimsuit when showering after a training session. His girlfriend Noémie (played by Julia Maraval) likes him so much that they have sex, though his thrust fails to alert her to the possibility that he is more accustomed to anal sex with a man in his twenties. His mother is aware that he is going through an identity crisis, but Vincent lacks the courage to tell her what is bothering him. One day, Benjamin (played by Jérémie Elkaïm) transfers to the school, is immediately attracted to Vincent, lets him know that he is interested, and eventually he enters Vincent's house, where he tries to kiss him. Vincent fails to reciprocate, Benjamin leaves, but the two figures have been seen in close proximity across the street at a bus stop. Three of Vincent's teammates, waiting for the bus, accuse Benjamin of being a fag, and soon a rumor spreads in the town that Vincent is gay. When he goes to school the next day, large graffiti on a glass wall say, "Molina is a fag," and his world starts to collapse. His teammates hit him in the pool. His older brother, Régis (played by Antoine Michel), who dislikes the way his parents (played by Patrick Bonnel and Christiane Millet) favor Vincent, then spills the beans to Vincent's parents at the dinner table. Vincent needs support, but that support is slow in arriving. His girlfriend is upset. He does not want Benjamin to provide consolation. Because he is vomiting, his parents send him to a physician, who senses that the problem is psychological, but Vincent does not know what to say. For the first time, he visits a gay bar to meet his boyfriend (played by Nils Ohlund), but he is treated flamingly as yet another horny guy, and his boyfriend is unhelpful, whereupon he seeks his girlfriend's company. At this point, Vincent's angst can get either better or worse, but coming-of-age films about gays are nothing new. Although the English language title gives away the ending, what is important is how Vincent finally got the support that he needed, even though the story is rather formulaic. MH
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