While seventeen-year-old Claire (Pauline Etienne) tussles with teen ennui and first love, grandfather Maurice (Michel Piccoli) must accept his mortality. A coming-of-age tale set at different ends of the spectrum, the film sensitively depicts Claire struggling with the choices that will decide her future, while Maurice is tormented by the choices he has made in the past, particularly when a Resistance fighter. After initial alienation from and hostility towards each other, these wilful and rebellious characters eventually come to a tentative understanding of each other. Restless also works as a metaphor for the passing of the torch from one generation to the next; the impressive young Etienne holds her own against the venerable Piccoli, and the film marks director Perreau as a name to watch.