Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic At age 17, there are only so many ways a high school student can flee a suffocating life. Bullied by her fellow students, Fanny (Lilith Grasmug) tried to commit suicide — or so she says — but fortunately, that didn’t work.
Now, this shy, self-questioning and clearly troubled teen is counting on a foreign exchange program to make a fresh start, escaping to Leipzig, Germany, to get away from the mean girls back home in Strasbourg, France. “Party Girl” co-director Claire Burger’s third feature, “Langue Étrangère,” splits its time between the two cities.
The first half takes place in Leipzig, where Fanny forms an intense intellectual and erotic connection with her German pen pal, Lena (Josefa Heinsius).
Fanny’s host is practically hostile when this uninvited foreigner first shows up, but that’s before a disarmingly candid (and frequently dishonest) Fanny starts to share stories invented to earn sympathy.
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