You know the story – brooding boy meets girl with the pink hair. Relationship blossoms. However, from that typical jumping point comes something authentic about growing up.

Pascal Plante’s version of the story is Les Faux Tatouages, or Fake Tattoos in English. The girl with the pink hair is Mag (Rose-Marie Perreault).

Mag randomly starts a conversation with her soon-to-be broody boy, Theo (Anthony Therrien). They start a relationship even if Theo has to leave Montreal after a few weeks.

My pragmatic side would have nixed the idea. But we’ve all been in situations like this and their decision to ride it out becomes more plausible.

Mag is the lesser of the two lead characters, existing to prop up Theo and to make him broaden his horizons. But Perreault makes Mag more mature than a typical 19-year old.

It’s initially difficult, on the other hand, to root or Theo. He’s a character who needs prodding to come out of his shell.

The film, however, has the combination of Plante’s writing and Therrien’s revelation of a performance. Audiences have previously seen Therrien as one of the bullies in 1:54.

Here, Therrien gets to play a good guy. Plante and his co-writer Geneieve Dulude-De Celles hints on and eventually reveal his back story through impressionistic dialogue. This is a film that rewards patient viewers.

Another reward that the audience gets through the film is its visuals.

Plante also adds a golden glow to Montreal, making his audience wish that Theo stuck around instead of leaving. Mag and the beautiful city where they found love would have been valid reasons.

There’s also a frankness and sweetness when Plante shows the couple’s intimate scenes.

The film, in general, begins with static shots following Mag and Theo’s conversations. But the writing makes us follow each word.