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Swimming Pool (2003)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 149
Fresh: 125 | Rotten: 24

A sensual thriller with two engaging performers demanding our undivided attention.

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 33 | Rotten: 4

A sensual thriller with two engaging performers demanding our undivided attention.

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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 28,509

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Movie Info

Fran�ois Ozon's psychological thriller Swimming Pool stars Charlotte Rampling as a mystery writer. When Sarah (Rampling) is offered the use of her publisher's vacation home, she accepts the offer. The conservative, repressed Sarah clashes with the house's other inhabitant, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), the uninhibited daughter of the publisher. Julie's promiscuous sex life intrigues Sarah and starts to lead to the thawing of the emotional deep-freeze between the two. The death of one of Julie's

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

Directed By: Fran�ois Ozon

Written By: Fran�ois Ozon, Emmanuelle Bernheim

In Theaters: Jul 2, 2003 Wide

On DVD: Jan 13, 2004

Box Office:$9.9M

Focus Features

Swimming Pool Trailer & Photos

More Photos (12)

Cast

Charlotte Rampling
Sarah Morton
Ludivine Sagnier
Julie
Charles Dance
John Bosload
Marc Fayolle
Marcel
Jean-Marie Lamour
Franck the Waiter
Mireille Mosse
Marcel's Daughter
Frances Cuka
Sarah Fan on Subway
Jean-Claude Lecas
Julie's Lovers #2
Tricia Aileen
John's Secretary
Michel Fau
Julie's Lovers #1
Keith Yeates
Sarah's Father
Lauren Farrow
Julia
Sebastian Harcombe
Terry Long

Critic Reviews for Swimming Pool

All Critics (161) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (128) | Rotten (24) | DVD (17)

Ozon simultaneously manages to make his film lazily sexual and crisply suspenseful.

August 8, 2003 Comment

Jay Boyar

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

Two parts psychological thriller and one part pretentious French art-house head-scratcher that leaves you mumbling, 'Duh.'

August 6, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Observer

| Comment

Rex Reed

New York Observer

Top Critic

Rampling and Sagnier play women for whom danger means different, opposing things, women who become unlikely allies in a tidy little mystery. Inspector Durvell -- and Alfred Hitchcock -- would approve.

July 21, 2003 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee

| Comment

Joe Baltake

Sacramento Bee

Top Critic

The story occasionally wanders, but Swimming Pool is definitely worth a dip.

July 19, 2003 Comment

Bill Muller

Arizona Republic

Top Critic

A delectable and daring psychological drama.

July 16, 2003 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

| Comment

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Top Critic

Think of it as a box of chocolates, with Sagnier being the chocolate-covered cherry. And you know the problem with chocolates: They're great to eat but they offer no nourishment whatsoever, and afterwards you feel guilty for the indulgence.

July 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Toronto Star

| Comment

Peter Howell

Toronto Star

Top Critic

Confusing thriller is absolutely NOT for kids.

January 2, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Sarah Wenk

Common Sense Media

Rampling and Ozon clearly enjoy working together. Rampling relishes psychologically complex roles. Ozon respects his leading ladies enough to give them challenges.

September 7, 2007 Full Review Source: Looking Closer

| Comment

Jeffrey Overstreet

Looking Closer

Charlotte Rampling is engaging in this intriguing little whodunit that seems more intent on exposing internal paranoia than it does on real world murder.

August 8, 2006 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

| Comment

Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

... sensual and enigmatic

January 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

| Comment

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Tiene que ver con eso de la ficci�n y de ser espectadores, y hasta qu� punto creemos lo que se ve en la pantalla como una realidad y no como el antojo de un director de cine.

October 26, 2004 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total

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Enrique Buchichio

Uruguay Total

[An] interesting character study of the two women [portrayed].

August 7, 2004 Full Review Source: european-films.net

| Comment

Boyd van Hoeij

european-films.net

Although copious amounts of French nudity constitutes, to some degree, its own reward, Swimming Pool is marred by stupor and a fake-as-Lee-Press-On-Nails coda.

July 14, 2004 Comment

Martin Scribbs

Low IQ Canadian Source: Low IQ Canadian

As in Chabrol, the plot's not the thing: what drives Swimming Pool is the transformations that take place within its characters. Rampling is a pleasure.

July 7, 2004 Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS)

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Jake Euker

F5 (Wichita, KS) Source: F5 (Wichita, KS)

The movie shimmers with sexual energy.

June 23, 2004 Full Review Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

| Comment

Judith Egerton

Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY) Source: Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Swimming Pool

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A stylish but ultimately somewhat disappointing exercise in writing, insanity, and the strain two very different people encounter living in the same vacation home. Think "The Odd Couple", only darker, nuder, and much more slower-paced, the film's overall style and masterful performances really help make somewhat

September 23, 2011

Dan Schultz

Super Reviewer

"On the surface, all is calm."A British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics.REVIEWIntriguing character study with Rampling as a successful mystery writer who tries to come up with a new storyline is

October 23, 2009