Adaptation Displacement: Thanks to the grand jury of Cannes, the movie is way more famous than the comic book.
Alternative Character Interpretation: Adèle cheats on Emma largely out of loneliness when Emma gets close with Lise, fearing Emma may be having an affair with her. After they break up, Emma is in a committed relationship with Lise. So, was it a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, with Emma and Lise being Just Friends until after Adèle and Emma broke up, having gotten closer in the aftermath? Or was Adèle Properly Paranoid? If the latter, was Emma's enraged reaction to Adèle's cheating just her being a hypocrite, anger that Adèle cheated on her with a man, or her having felt like their relationship was dying for awhile, and this was just the final nail in the coffin? To make it more complicated, it's also possible Emma and Lise were having an emotional affair, with Lise taking over Adèle's role as Emma's confidant, conversation partner, and best friend, but weren't having sex, allowing Emma to not see her actions as "real" infidelity, while Adèle is just as hurt as she would be if Emma actually were sleeping with someone else.
The film was eligible for categories aside from Foreign Language Film in 2013, including Best Actress for Adèle Exarchopoulos and Supporting Actress for Léa Seydoux. It failed to receive any nominations, anyway.
In the Cesar Awards the film was nominated for eight awards including Best Film but only got to take home one award which was granted to Adèle Exarchopoulos as Best Breakthrough Actress.
Best Known for the Fanservice: The movie isn't actually all about lesbian sex, but considering there's a six-minute sex scene that earns its NC-17 rating many times over (on top of the other sex scenes), it's easy to see how that reputation was formed. Those who defend the film's drama and characters are (perhaps justifiably) upset that for the majority of people, the film is only known for the sex scenes.
Broken Base: Not antagonistic like others, but still there. Though many of the film's fans appreciate it in its entirety, there are many that prefer the first chapter to the second, preferring the buildup and the most intense parts of the love affair to the eventual deconstruction of the passion, while others view the second chapter as suffering from Ending Fatigue. There are others who prefer the second chapter, appreciating the maturity and emotions of the second half. Though most are in agreement that the two chapters together are about different phases in Adèle's life and should be treated accordingly.
Ending Fatigue: Some argue that part two suffers from this; The film goes on for another 45 minutes after Emma and Adèle break up and the majority of it, save for the scenes of Adèle and Emma meeting in a cafe and the final scene, is just close-ups of Adèle crying or extended scenes of her teaching her class.
Fetish Retardant: Many actual lesbians (including Jul Maroh themselves, the writer of the original comic) found the sex scenes laughably unrealistic, due to a perceived combination of IKEA Erotica and Male Gaze. The general consensus is that, while it was still hot, it was obviously two straight girls doing a sex scene. The actresses have had numerous complaints about the overbearing and hard-to-please director, particularly in regards to said scenes. They've been reshot numerous times until the actresses were literally driven to tears, which certainly didn't bode well for convincing acting.
Money-Making Shot: Also applies to the sex scene cited in Best Known for the Fanservice above. Those wishing to defend the art are rightfully upset, but the fact remains that a good chunk of the viewership of this film (and later purchases on DVD and streaming) is because of that one scene, to the point where more people know about that scene than can actually describe what the movie is about.
Some viewers laugh when Adèle cries during the breakup scene because of her runny nose. Although it can be argued that it makes the performance more realistic but it becomes gross and distracting when her snot gets into her mouth.
Adèle sucking on Emma's hand and fingers in the café is supposed to seen as sensual, but it comes off as her just clumsily slobbering over Emma's fingers.
More than a few people have actually applied this to the sex scene that goes on and on.
Overshadowed by Controversy: Almost as notorious as the sex scenes are the reactions to it by various viewers (see above) and the friction between the crew and Abdellatif Kechiche; both lead actresses have said they will never work for him again, and other crew members quit during filming because of conflicts with him.
Shipping Bed Death: As part of the Broken Base above, some felt that the movie became less interesting after Adèle and Emma's grand love story eventually came to a close and the issues of the relationship/eventual breakup came into play. (These same qualities are what made the other side like the second half more than the first half.)
Squick: Some found the relationship between Emma and Adèle disturbing, since Emma is a technically an adult while Adèle is 15 years old when they meet, thus feeling that Emma is an older woman preying on the younger and more vulnerable Adèle, who is still struggling with her identity. In many countries in Real Life, this would probably qualify for corruption of minors or an equivalent sex crime. Also, the film is lauded as the greatest lesbian love story on film, but it's questionable if it would be as critically acclaimed if an older man entered a sexual relationship with a high-school girl. Those who rebut these criticisms point out that people are more accepting about the young Adèle being a chain smoker than they are about her finding her first love in an older woman, and even though Emma is older than Adèle, Adèle is far more emotionally mature than the frigid Emma.
, the writer of the original comic) found the sex scenes laughably unrealistic