BPM (Beats Per Minute).
Set in the Paris in the early 1990s, Robin Campillo's film about the loves and struggles of a group of AIDS activists manages to be sad, funny, uplifting and heartbreaking – it feels true to life, even if the script, written by Campillo and Philippe Mangeot, is sometimes meandering and repetitive.
The members of ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) meet regularly in a college lecture hall to discuss their protest actions, including storming a pharmaceutical company that is delaying the release of an antiretroviral drug or raiding a school to hand out condoms.
We see them argue, we see them laugh, we see their internal divisions. It's a scene repeated many times but rarely dull. As it progresses, BPM (the title inspired by a heart's pulse) begins to focus in on the relationship between the firebrand Sean (Nahuel Perez Biscayart) and Nathan, a newcomer to the group played by Arnaud Valois, who delivers a sensitive and beautiful performance.
Although the story sometimes goes in circles, its honest depiction of the group's joys and tragedies is harrowing and inspiring, but never sentimental.
Dave McGinn