Céline Sciamma’s astonishingly assured first feature focuses on three schoolgirls of varying experience and élan who explore the alternately liberating and perilous possibilities inherent to their youth, burgeoning sexuality and fascination with synchronized swimming.
Imagine a pubescent Esther Williams shipped overseas to a public school in the suburbs outside Paris, and you’ll have some idea of the alluring blend of teenage athleticism and ennui embodied by Marie (preternaturally perceptive lovestruck loner), Anne (zaftig party-crashing eccentric) and Floriane (sultry swim team tease), the titular water lilies who dive deep into the chilly waters of adolescence with only nose plugs, training bras and each other’s kisses and confessions for protection.
“Swimming through the chlorine-scented uncertainty of budding bodies and same-sex crushes, the girls move underwater with the military precision their sport demands, and ultimately prove equally fluid in defining selfhood and sensuality.”