Water Lilies (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:32
Rotten:8
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Water Lilies is a sharply-observed, provocative coming-of-age story that captures the anxieties of the early teen years.
Theatrical Release:Apr 4, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: In this French film, a group of teenage girls reveal that it's not just adults who scheme and plot. WATER LILIES (LA NAISSANCE DES PIEUVRES) is set in the seemingly innocent world of synchronized... [More]
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Reviews for Water Lilies
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
 8/11 |
Frankly and sensitively packs in a lot of teen girls' yearning for conformity above the water line and down below%u2013 pressure, insecurity, romance, and sexual exploration. Full Review |
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Borderline kiddie porn featuring sexual girl-on-girl garbage sniffing of one's favorite female object of desire, post-feminist burying instead of burning bras as female self-hatred, and gal pal how-to tips on deflowering your best friend. Full Review |
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It'd all be tres dull if it weren't for the magnificent faces of Pauline Acquart and Adele Haenel. Actually, it still gets dull, even if at times the film skirts kiddie-porn territory. Full Review |
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A fascinating exploration of female friendship, love, manipulation, betrayal and healing. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
A narrowly interesting story by French writer-director Céline Sciamma about three girls whose lives are connected by synchronized swimming. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
First-time writer/director Celine Sciamma focuses exclusively, empathetically and insightfully on her protagonists' coming-of-age experiences. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
If poetry is about finding the perfect words to say something, then movie poetry is about finding perfect images. And Water Lilies has several of them. Full Review |
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B |
Water Lilies is that rare film about female sexuality that is made for females to relate to, not for males to fantasize about. Full Review |
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B+ |
...a coming of age tale that is at once raw and beautiful. Full Review |
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3.5/4 |
A sensitive study of budding adolescent desires, a pervert's delight, plus synchronized swimming. Yes, Water Lilies will be many things to many people. Full Review |
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3/5 |
Sciamma demonstrates the potential to make a truly erotic and interesting film. This just isn't it. Full Review |
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2.5/5 |
For all its virtues as a coming-of-age study, it's too slow, too single dimensional to create much of a stir beyond arthouse and hothouse interest. The close-ups of Acquart's classic beauty are well worth the screen time, however. Full Review |
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The cruelty of adolescence emerges razor-sharp and could send many in the audience back to the most painful days of puberty. Full Review |
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2/4 |
Celine Sciamma's quiet drama has moments of motionless yearning that contrast the intense emotions of its 15-year-old protagonists. Full Review |
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2.5/4 |
The original French title of this flick translates as Birth of Octopuses, and it's a more accurate description of the complicated relationships in this well-acted coming-of-age story, the impressive debut of filmmaker Céline Sciamma. Full Review |
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3/4 |
Though the material is familiar, [director Celine] Sciamma has a light touch and avoids many teen-movie cliches. Her girls aren't hyperverbal -- in fact, they're the opposite, guarded and always listening for cues before they reveal themselves in words. Full Review |
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A hypnotic and wholly convincing look at teen culture from the inside, with all its courage, cruelty and unspoken codes of silence intact. Full Review |
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3/5 |
One of the slipperiest teenage coming-of-age dramas in quite some time. Full Review |
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3/5 |
The flowers that bloom in the French film Water Lilies belong to a familiar cinematic species, the newly sexualized teenage girl. Full Review |
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3.5/5 |
Beautifully paced with an eerily-consistent tone Full Review |
CommentLatest News for Water Lilies
September 03, 2008:
Borderline kiddie porn featuring sexual girl-on-girl garbage sniffing of one's favorite female object of desire, post-feminist burying instead of burning bras as female self-hatred, and gal pal how-to tips on deflowering your best friend. 
More...
May 24, 2008:
Borderline kiddie porn featuring sexual girl-on-girl garbage sniffing of one's favorite female object of desire, post-feminist burying instead of burning bras as female self-hatred, and gal pal how-to tips on deflowering your best friend.
More...
April 03, 2008:
Borderline kiddie porn featuring sexual girl-on-girl garbage sniffing of one's favorite female object of desire, post-feminist burying instead of burning bras as female self-hatred, and gal pal how-to tips on deflowering your best friend.
More...
April 03, 2008:
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This week at the movies, we've got pigskin pratfalls (Leatherheads, starring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger), isle imagination (Nim's Island, starring Jodie Foster and... More...
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