"Forget the beggars in the street or the needs of charity programs—this is a good idea to wrestle with exclusively in the realm of aesthetic contemplation.

"Ultimately, whether one identifies with Maggie Gyllenhaal or the James Franco of your choice—not to mention the cops and pimps—the real question this show asks is, who we are as sexual beings?

“There’s a little secret that all of us expats here share, which is that people back there [in the U.S.] especially want to hear the fantasy version of Paris."

Happy End does a better job juxtaposing its mediocrity against its aspirations than it purports to do between haute-bourgeois Calais and its hellish refugee camp.