If you’re looking for sex over love in your next date night flick, “Double Lover” should be a candidate for your consideration. Loosely based on Joyce Carol Oates’ book “Lives of the Twins,” François Ozon stylishly illustrates a woman’s erotic obsession with twins in “Double Lover.”

A 25-year-old Parisienne, Chloe (Marine Vacth), has constant stomach pains. Hearing that her symptoms might be caused by psychological distress, she visits a therapist Paul (Jérémie Renier) with whom she soon falls in love. The lovers move into a new apartment together where they encounter Rose (Myriam Boyer), an odd neighbor who has her nose in everyone’s business. Chloe is anguished by the fact that Paul knows everything about her when she does not know much about him. Her anxiety deepens when she sees Paul outside of a local psychiatric office talking to another woman. Paul denies her suspicion but not fully trusting him, she further investigates.

There, she finds Louis (also played by Renier), Paul’s secret twin brother who is also a psychoanalyst. Chloe takes an interest in Louis and his crude personality –– a contrast to the gentler demeanor of Paul. She sympathizes with Louis, who considers himself to be the less dominant twin. Chloe continues her sexual affairs with Louis behind Paul’s back. However, her fairytale comes to an end when Louis begins to obsess over Chloe and the twins’ unsettling secrets are slowly revealed.

The film focuses on its characters — particularly Vacth’s, who can mesmerize the audience with a mere glance into the camera. Despite a cropped hairstyle that suggests gender-neutral sensibility, her femininity is apparent. The editing and delicate camerawork is beautifully executed. The transition between each cut is exquisite, informing the audience of the psychological distance between characters despite their physical closeness.

Despite the film’s aesthetics, the plot arouses some confusion. As is typical of French art house films, the ending of the film left questions unanswered. Sex scenes between Paul and Chloe, Chloe and Louis, though central to the plot, become somewhat tedious and border on gratuitous. Chloe’s obsession with twins and the crooked love story do not merge as naturally as one might hope — the film would have been much better if it had been loyal to the subject of twins or to the subject of love. The distinctive tensions make the film seem like a collage of different short films.

“Double Lover” premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, where it was selected to compete for the prestigious Palme d’Or. It is now playing in United States theaters.

Email Woojung Kim at [email protected].