In Bonjour Tristesse—a modern retelling of Françoise Sagan’s 1954 novella of the same name—the enigmatic fashionista Ann (Chloe Sevigny) discovers a long-held craving just as it’s satisfied by her lover, Raymond (Claes Bang). She describes the feeling as “fizzy,” an adjective that captures the quietly galvanic sensations permeating Durga Chew-Bose’s stringent and striking directorial debut. The interaction also illustrates the inflamed senses of self-awareness that define the film’s characters, who relentlessly observe, analyze, and diagnose each other’s behaviors in ways that invariably reflect back on themselves.

The wealthy, womanizing Raymond enjoys a carefree life in the French Riviera with his stepdaughter, Cécile (Lily McInerny), whose mother died years before. The two have always kept each other company—even solitaire is a multiplayer game for them—and this closeness remains unchallenged when Raymond takes up with the beautiful Elsa (Nailia Harzoune), whose warmth grounds the...