Love Me If You Dare begins in a small town in Belgium, where a little girl, Sophie, is being bullied by other children. Only a bus driver and a boy, Julien, help her collect her books that the others have thrown into a puddle.
To cheer Sophie up, Julien gives her a small tin box, a gift from his fatally ill mother. Because it is important to him, he asks her to lend it back to him from time to time. As Julien wants the box back at the moment he gave it to her, Sophie demands proof of how important it is to him. Julien disengages the handbrake of the bus without hesitation, and the bus full of children rolls down a hill. Their game has begun: the box changes its owner after each completed dare.
Between the son of wealthy Belgian parents and the daughter of poor Polish immigrants a lasting friendship develops. As children they misbehave in school, wreak havoc on a wedding, and ask silly tasks of each other. As teenagers their lovers have to suffer because of their dares. Meanwhile, the two friends ignore any consequences or punishment during their game.
While they are always looking for the next kick, a love is slowly evolving between the protagonists. Not wanting to admit it, they divert their attention from it by even more extreme dares. As young adults, Julien tells Sophie that he wants to get married, only later revealing that he means to someone else. The climax is reached when Sophie interrupts Julien’s wedding, after which he is cast out by his father and Sophie is nearly killed during another game. Julien returns to marry his wife, and Sophie declares that they will not see each other for ten years.
Ten years pass, and Julien is married with two children. Sophie has also married, her husband a famous soccer star. A successful Julien admits that he has not forgotten Sophie, though he assumes that she has forgotten him. On the night of Julien’s tenth wedding anniversary, Sophie sends a message to him, indicating that the game is back on. Julien and Sophie meet for a brief moment in the midst of another dare, yet it is enough to remind Julien that their game is “better than life itself.” After a dramatic accident, Julien and Sophie finally reunite, despite the protestations of their spouses.
Love Me If You Dare (French title: Jeux d’enfants) is a 2003 French-Belgian film directed by Yann Samuell. It stars Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Thibault Verhaeghe, Joséphine Lebas-Joly, Emmanuelle Grönvold, Gérard Watkins, Gilles Lellouche, Julia Faure and Laëtizia Venezia Tarnowska.
Love Me If You Dare (2003)
Jeux d’Enfants
Directed by: Yann Samuell
Starring: Guillaume Canet, Marion Cotillard, Thibault Verhaeghe, Joséphine Lebas-Joly, Emmanuelle Grönvold, Gérard Watkins, Gilles Lellouche, Julia Faure, Laëtizia Venezia Tarnowska
Screenplay by: Jacky Cukier, Yann Samuell
Production Design by: Jean-Michel Simonet
Cinematography by: Antoine Roch
Film Editing by: Judith Rivière Kawa, Andrea Sedlácková
Costume Design by: Julie Mauduech
Music by: Philippe Rombi
MPAA Rating: R for language and some sexuality.
Distributed by: Mars Distribution
Release Date: September 17, 2003
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