Young & Beautiful
French teenager Isabelle is spending her summer holiday with her middle-class family in the south of France and decides to lose her virginity with German teenager Felix. Then she returns to Paris with her mother Sylvie, her stepfather Patrick and her younger brother Victor. Then Isabelle works as a call girl using the nickname Lea, meeting old men. She feels affection for her client Georges that is married with a daughter. When Georges dies from a heart attack while having sex with Isabelle in a hotel, she flees but the police investigate and identify her. The detectives in charge of the investigation disclose to Sylvie, who is devastated.
Despite its modest budget of $4.7M, Young & Beautiful became a solid performer, earning $9.8M worldwide—a 110% return.
3 wins & 7 nominations
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Young & Beautiful (2013) exemplifies deliberately positioned story structure, characteristic of François Ozon's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 35 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Isabelle, age 17, on summer vacation with her family. She is beautiful, intelligent, and virginal - a typical upper-middle-class French teenager on the cusp of adulthood.. Significantly, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 10 minutes when Isabelle loses her virginity to Felix on the beach in an awkward, unsatisfying encounter. This sexual initiation disrupts her innocence but leaves her emotionally disconnected and curious.. At 11% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 22 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 23% of the runtime. This reveals the protagonist's commitment to Isabelle meets her first client, Georges, a wealthy older businessman at a hotel. She makes the active choice to enter sex work, crossing into a clandestine adult world of transactional intimacy., moving from reaction to action.
At 47 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 50% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Of particular interest, this crucial beat Winter segment: Georges dies suddenly of a heart attack during one of their encounters. Isabelle flees the hotel room in shock, marking a false defeat that raises stakes dramatically., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 71 minutes (75% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Isabelle's family confronts her with the revelation. Her mother is devastated and furious. Isabelle's carefully constructed double life collapses entirely - the death of her secret self and her family's image of her innocence., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 75 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 79% of the runtime. Spring segment begins. Time has passed. Isabelle appears to have moved forward, though without clear transformation or revelation - she simply continues into the next phase of life., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Young & Beautiful's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping Young & Beautiful against these established plot points, we can identify how François Ozon utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Young & Beautiful within the drama genre.
François Ozon's Structural Approach
Among the 7 François Ozon films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.5, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Young & Beautiful takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete François Ozon filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional drama films include Eye for an Eye, South Pacific and Kiss of the Spider Woman. For more François Ozon analyses, see Swimming Pool, The Crime Is Mine and Frantz.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Isabelle, age 17, on summer vacation with her family. She is beautiful, intelligent, and virginal - a typical upper-middle-class French teenager on the cusp of adulthood.
Theme
Conversation about growing up and sexuality. A character discusses desire, beauty, and the transition from girlhood to womanhood, establishing the film's thematic exploration of sexual identity and commodification.
Worldbuilding
Summer segment establishing Isabelle's world: privileged family life, her younger brother, beach vacation in the south of France, flirtation with a German boy named Felix.
Disruption
Isabelle loses her virginity to Felix on the beach in an awkward, unsatisfying encounter. This sexual initiation disrupts her innocence but leaves her emotionally disconnected and curious.
Resistance
Autumn segment begins. Isabelle returns to Paris and school. She debates her next steps, ultimately creating an online profile as "Lea" to work as a high-end escort, choosing this double life.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Isabelle meets her first client, Georges, a wealthy older businessman at a hotel. She makes the active choice to enter sex work, crossing into a clandestine adult world of transactional intimacy.
Mirror World
Isabelle develops a regular arrangement with Georges, who becomes a consistent client. This relationship represents the thematic mirror: commodified intimacy versus authentic connection.
Premise
Isabelle navigates her double life - attending school, maintaining normalcy with family and friends while secretly meeting clients in hotels. The premise explores the compartmentalization of identity and desire.
Midpoint
Winter segment: Georges dies suddenly of a heart attack during one of their encounters. Isabelle flees the hotel room in shock, marking a false defeat that raises stakes dramatically.
Opposition
Georges' widow discovers Isabelle's phone number and connection to her husband. Police investigate. Isabelle's secret life is exposed to her horrified mother and stepfather. Pressure intensifies from all sides.
Collapse
Isabelle's family confronts her with the revelation. Her mother is devastated and furious. Isabelle's carefully constructed double life collapses entirely - the death of her secret self and her family's image of her innocence.
Crisis
Isabelle processes the emotional aftermath. Sessions with a therapist prove fruitless - she offers no clear explanation for her behavior, remaining enigmatic about her motivations.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Spring segment begins. Time has passed. Isabelle appears to have moved forward, though without clear transformation or revelation - she simply continues into the next phase of life.
Synthesis
Isabelle navigates her new reality. She encounters a former client by chance on the street, showing she has not fully left that world behind. The finale synthesizes her experiences without neat resolution.
Transformation
Final image mirrors the opening: Isabelle on vacation again, but now experienced and knowing. She walks alone by the water - beautiful, enigmatic, transformed yet fundamentally unchanged in her inscrutability.