Love is a 2015 erotic drama art film written and directed by Gaspar Noé. The film marked Noé’s fourth directorial venture after a gap of five years. It had its premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and was released in 3D. The film is notable for its unsimulated sex scenes.
Murphy is an American cinema school student, living in Paris. He had a French girlfriend, called Electra, whom he dated for two years. One day, Murphy and Electra met and had a no-strings-attached threesome with another woman, a young Danish teenager named Omi, as a way to add some excitement to their love life. But later, Murphy had sex with Omi behind Electra’s back, as a result of which Omi became pregnant (the condom broke and she is against abortion). This unplanned pregnancy ended the relationship between Murphy and Electra, and it forced Murphy to live with Omi.
On a rainy 1 January morning, Electra’s mother, Nora, phones Murphy at the small Paris apartment where he lives with Omi and their 18-month-old son, Gaspar. Nora asks Murphy if he has heard from Electra. Nora has not heard from her for three months; given Electra’s suicidal tendencies, Nora is quite worried about her. For the rest of this day, Murphy recalls his relationship with Electra in a series of fragmented, nonlinear flashbacks. Those flashbacks depict their first meeting in Paris; their quick hookup; and their lives over the next two years, which are filled with drug abuse, rough sex and tender moments. Electra’s whereabouts and ultimate fate are left unresolved.