"A Bigger Splash" Review

A Bigger Splash is a romantic drama thriller film directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Ralph Fiennes, Tilda Swinton, Dakota Johnson, and Matthias Schoenarts that is apparently a remake of a 1960s erotic film called La Piscine. Swinton plays an aging rock star on vacation in Italy with her boyfriend (Schoenarts), and their vacation is interrupted by Swinton's ex-lover Fiennes and his teenage daughter Johnson. Fiennes makes clear that he has come to visit for the sole purpose of trying to seduce Swinton back to him, and Johnson is pretty obviously trying to fuck Shoenarts. What follows is an unconventional and bizarre indie romance that seems simple enough for the most part.

This is going to be a very short review because I have no idea what to make of this film. On a completely superficial level, I enjoyed all four of the main performances, though I've heard undying praise for Swinton who honestly never floored me. Fiennes is the star for sure, in my opinion, playing Harry Hawkes (the only character whose name I remember) beautifully as someone who is belligerent and fun-loving and yet heartbreakingly selfish and emotionally disturbed. Johnson is ridiculously cryptic as his daughter (with whom he has a very uncomfortable relationship), and is appropriately sexy and actually pretty compelling especially in the third act. Schoenarts's character seems to be the most grounded, since he's oddly the most removed from the fast and furious showbiz life despite being a filmmaker himself, but has his own demons to work out as well.

Honestly, this is really about all I could say about this film. The first hour or so goes by following seemingly meaningless interactions between the four main characters underscored by some brilliant and striking imagery of an Italian island as well as some deafening string-heavy music, creating a palpable sense of unease that ultimately explodes with one event about halfway through the film. Between this and the four actors' brilliant performances, I can say honestly that I was thoroughly intrigued throughout the film, but could never really put my finger on what it was going for, and I still can't say I do even a month out.

I'm not opposed to ambiguity or a film being difficult to decipher, and I'm sure upon a second viewing I'd have more to talk about, but, while intriguing, so much of this movie's runtime was spent with me wondering where the fuck it was going. Once it proved to me that it was not going where I thought, I was pretty much completely lost. Choppy flashbacks and some odd directorial choices in terms of what a shot lingers on or what a character does or does not say add even more facets to the confusion. Maybe I'm just a dumbass, but I really don't know where to go from here.

Overall, A Bigger Splash has an intriguing storyline with compelling and well-written characters performed beautifully by its four main actors, especially Ralph Fiennes, and also offers some magnificent camerawork and scenery. But it's also super cryptic, confusing, and felt sort of unsatisfying in its ambiguity. Better minds than me will need to decipher it properly, but if it sounds like it may pique your interest, by all means see it and explain it to me.

Grade: B-