A Bigger Splash

An adult love triangle, spiced up by a curious, sexy young girl. Guadagnino savors the eroticism of exposed female bodies, hidden passions and the hot southern Italian climate. But the dramatic aspect of his story works only at half-throttle. It would have passed as a dialogue-based movie with a single open conversation (the guys’ quarrel) had the characters’ emotions burbling just beneath the surface been stronger. But still, at least the filmmaking is rather original, which I appreciate. (10/04/2018)

My strategy of not reading the comments and reviews before the film backfired. I had to suffer through two hours of boredom and misery, and I saw much more than I wanted to of the central four. Despite Ralph Fiennes’s great performance, his character was the proverbial pain in the ass. It remains a mystery to me why Dakota Johnson was cast into the role of a teenager when she looks at least thirty-five. The close-ups of her face were too close up. I found the characters annoying, I didn’t notice any plot, and I was bored to death. One star goes to Ralph Fiennes, even though his Harry was incredibly annoying. (11/14/2016)

I probably saw a different movie than most others, because unlike them, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I certainly can't say, as some have, that the stellar acting trio of Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Ralph Fiennes didn't live up to my expectations. I even gave Dakota Johnson a break, although I'm not a big fan of her personally. I guess I was also very influenced by the immersive music, as the soundtrack is just brilliant. I generally like subtly developing relationship stories, which I got here in spades. My attention was then drawn to the emotionally built-up last third of the story, which is in sharp contrast to the lazy mood of the sun-drenched landscape. I was also intrigued by the ending itself, over which many question marks hang. These are all very good ingredients for a captivating audiovisual cocktail, which I enjoyed to the fullest. (80%) (02/23/2021)

Long and I admit, quite boring film for me, where it couldn't be completely expected how it would unfold, but on the other hand, I didn't enjoy the journey the movie took to reach this goal. The performances are good and maybe I underestimated Dakota, but the film still didn't convince me that this is something big. (07/26/2016)

Unbeknownst to me, I was thinking the whole time: "They're dealing with the same thing Romy Schneider did years ago!" And I wasn't wrong. However, it doesn't matter, this new The Swimming Pool ideally fulfills all the needs of a summer movie theater visit when it's convenient to catch up on your own sun glare. Besides, it is very nice to see Tilda Swinton now and again. (10/01/2016)