76
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesGlenn KennyThe New York TimesGlenn KennyPretty people behaving poorly in beautiful settings is something we don’t see as much of in cinema as we used to. This is a master class in the subgenre, and one of unusual depth.
- 80Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleLos Angeles TimesRobert AbeleThe film is never just some glassy exercise in the idly loaded’s languorous cruelty, though. In each magnetic performance (especially Schneider’s), in the sparse but piquant lines from the script co-written with the great, recently departed screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière (working from an Alain Page story), and in Deray’s attention to emotional humidity, lies something resolutely curious about human frailty in relationships.
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawErotic languour turns gradually into fear and then horror in this gripping and superbly controlled psychological thriller from 1969.
- 80Time OutTrevor JohnstonTime OutTrevor JohnstonThis is a deliciously languid, slinkily unsettling affair.
- 80Total FilmTom DawsonTotal FilmTom DawsonAn intriguing forerunner to François Ozon’s Swimming Pool, it’s languidly paced and elegantly lensed, though its prize asset is Delon/ Schneider’s sexual sizzle.
- 80Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderFamous in its day for reuniting real-life former lovers Alain Delon and Romy Schneider on-screen, this forgotten 1968 psychological thriller by Jacques Deray deserves to be rediscovered for its darkly sensual story.
- 75Slant MagazineKeith WatsonSlant MagazineKeith WatsonLa Piscine is, more than anything else, a work of vivid sensory delights.
- 60CineVuePatrick GambleCineVuePatrick GambleWith little action taking place for the majority of the film, this slow boiling story is more of an insightful character study than a heart pounding thriller.
- 50The New YorkerRichard BrodyThe New YorkerRichard BrodyThe movie is so tautly constructed that not a single idea can seep in; it’s a mechanism made with an eye to spare elegance so obsessive that it runs without functioning, like a watch without hands.