Swimming Pool
Like the previous review of "Alex and Emma", Swimming Pool contains an accomplished writer who seeks help from an opposite personality in order to finish a book. But while the first gets dragged down by cheesy romance and inevitable conflict, the latter's relationship adds intrigue and mystery to an interesting film.

Sarah Morton (Charlotte Rampling) is stuck at a crossroads. She's a lonely woman and the successful author of the Inspector Dorwell series. When it's obvious she's tired and out of ideas, her publisher suggests that she use his vacation home in France. She agrees and is instantly transformed into a new person, taking advantage of the privacy and peacefulness; ready to tackle another book. That is, until his daughter Julie (Ludivine Sagnier) arrives unexpectedly. She returns to her little shell while her opposite drinks, strolls around the pool nude all day, and has sex with whomever she gets to bring back at night. As Sarah gets used to her presence, it's obvious they have a lot more in common than they realized and slowly, Sarah retreats from her shell to enjoy the things Julie does. But more often than not, she is intrigued in the life that Julie leads and as it happens, her book suddenly takes a whole new direction.

I don't buy the way the film heads into the direction that it does in its climax, but its denouement and small twist at the end redeem that in my mind. Director Francois Ozon creates the aura of privacy in a vast world with sweeping shots of absolutely nothing but giving the sense of some kind of presence. Both Rampling, 58, and Sagnier, 24, give strong, sensual performances. Rampling especially shows her range throughout the pic transforming from an old woman to a proper wild child. Sagnier is a sight to see, both on-screen and in her performance. This calculating pic isn't a blow-by-blow thriller but instead builds up its suspense quietly and assuredly. 3 stars