Upon arriving at Les Avons, Olivia is promptly informed that pupils typically fall into two camps: Julistes (those who prefer Julie) and Caristes (those who prefer Cara). Several students make bets about which camp Olivia will fall into, perhaps unaware that she, most of all, shouldn’t have a preference.

Since its restoration and re-release in 2019, Olivia has attracted new eyes, new opinions. Film enthusiasts, eager to whip up a review upon first viewing, have all written of the film’s predatory, unspeakable—and today, incomprehensible—queer love between a boarding school’s headmistress and her sixteen-year-old student.