Lost and Delirious

Lost and Delirious (French: Rebelles) is a 2001 Canadian drama film directed by Léa Pool, and based on the novel The Wives of Bath by Susan Swan. Lost and Delirious is told from the perspective of Mary (Mischa Barton), who observes the changing love between her two teenage friends, Pauline (Piper Perabo) and Victoria (Jessica Paré). The film premiered at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.

Mary (nicknamed Mouse) is a new student at the all girls' boarding school, and dorms with Pauline (nicknamed Paulie) and Victoria (nicknamed Tori). In an effort to get the shy Mary to break out of her shell, Paulie and Tori involve her in their activities, such as running in the mornings. When they hear that Mary's mother has died, Paulie nicknames her "Mary Brave."

Mary observes the intimacy between her two dorm mates. Peering out a window at night, she sees them kissing on a roof. Paulie and Tori's relationship is close and Paulie is full of life. At one point she turns a quiet afternoon on the campus into a music-blasting dance party and spikes the punch. In another moment, she defends Victoria from a frustrated math teacher who humiliates her when she does not understand a math problem.

When the three are running one day, Paulie comes across a hurt falcon, which she befriends. After reading up on falcons, she trains the animal. While she is tending to the falcon, Mary and Tori come across some boys from the nearby boys school. One of them, called Jake, flirts with Tori, asking if she will be attending her brother's 18th birthday party and making it clear that he likes her. When Mary and Tori are alone, Tori expresses disgust at the boy's interest in her, saying, "He liked my tits." When Mary asks if she'll go to the party, Tori says, "And have all those gross guys groping me? I'd rather stay home."

Over time, Paulie and Tori become more comfortable showing affection in front of Mary. It progresses from a quick kiss on the lips in front of her, to the two having sex while Mary is sleeping.

One morning, Tori's younger sister and friends rush into the room to wake up the older girls. Paulie is lying in Tori's bed, and it is clear that the two are totally naked. Horrified silence falls over everyone, and Paulie unconvincingly claims she was in bed with Tori because the latter has nightmares.

Mary pushes Tori's sister out of the room and closes the door. Tori angrily tells Paulie to get out of her bed. When confronted by her sister, she tries to extinguish her sister's suspicions by telling her Paulie has an unrequited crush on her and crawled into her bed. Her sister promises to "fix" the rumors about Tori and not tell their parents anything. As she walks away from this conversation, Tori collapses into tears, disgusted at herself due to her cowardice and unwillingness to confess being a lesbian and in love with Paulie.

In the library, Tori explains to Mary that her family, her parents and her sister, are strongly homophobic, and she must stop the lesbian sexual relationship to prevent their rejection. Mary sympathizes with both of her friends, as she too feels rejected by her father, who does not bother to show up to a father/daughter dance. The break up is not clean though. Paulie degenerates into abusive behavior, like destroying a mirror and thrashing a dish cart to the floor. She is sent further over the edge after receiving a letter from the agency that handled her adoption saying that her birth mother refused a request from Paulie to get in touch. Meanwhile, Tori starts going out with Jake and publicly ignores Paulie.