Swimming Pool

Sarah Morton, an aging British crime novelist, retreats to her publisher's coastal estate in Southern France to work in privacy on her next book. The villa is bright with sun and quiet, a place to sift through ideas and narrow down the story's edges. When Julie, the publisher's free spirited daughter, arrives unexpectedly, the two women collide in mood and perspective. Julie's carefree presence clashes with Sarah's discipline, sparking a collision of wants and fantasies that unsettles the calm seaside retreat. What begins as a quiet writing session shifts into a volatile test of control, identity, and desire, as the house becomes a pressure cooker of secrets. Their exchanges touch on storytelling, the difference between fiction and reality, and what it means to author someone else's complex life.

Directed by François Ozon, Swimming Pool is written for the screen by Emmanuèle Bernheim from her original story. The 2003 release pairs Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier in a sunlit Southern France villa. The film is noted for its sparing yet suggestive visual language and Ozon's sharp direction.

It grossed $22,441,323 worldwide on a $7,800,000 budget, a solid return for a stylish adult thriller that leans on mood and performance rather than action in Europe and North America.

Rampling's cool, controlled portrayal of Sarah Morton and Sagnier's audacious Julie sparked conversations about identity and female desire in cinema. The bright poolside setting contrasts with a growing sense of danger, and the film's subtext lingers after the credits. The pool and garden imagery heighten the mood.

Critics were divided about Ozon's approach, praising the film's psychological tension while noting uneven tonal shifts. The story probes memory, authorship, and power between two women whose encounter unsettles both character and illusion. Its final moments hint at truth and storytelling, leaving audiences debating where fiction ends.