Swimming Pool (2003 film)

Swimming Pool
French theatrical release poster
Directed byFrançois Ozon
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyYorick Le Saux
Edited byMonica Coleman
Music byPhilippe Rombi
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 18 May 2003 (2003-05-18) (Cannes)
  • 21 May 2003 (2003-05-21) (France)
  • 22 August 2003 (2003-08-22) (United Kingdom)
Running time
103 minutes[1]
Countries
  • France
  • United Kingdom
Languages
  • English
  • French
Budget€6.1 million[2]
($7 million)
Box office$22.4 million[3]

Swimming Pool is a 2003 erotic thriller film co-written and directed by François Ozon and starring Charlotte Rampling and Ludivine Sagnier. The plot focuses on a British crime novelist, Sarah Morton, who travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the arrival of Julie, who claims to be the publisher's daughter, induces complications and a subsequent crime. Both lead characters are bilingual, and the film's dialogue is a mixture of French and English.

Swimming Pool premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2003,[4] and was released theatrically in France three days later with a U cinema rating, meaning it was deemed suitable for all ages. It was given a limited theatrical release in the United States that July and was edited to avoid an NC-17 rating due to its sexual content and nudity. It was subsequently released in North America on DVD in an unrated cut.

The film ignited controversy with audiences because of its ambiguous nature and unclear conclusion which can be interpreted in various ways. In France many comparisons were made with Jacques Deray's 1969 film La Piscine (The Swimming Pool), starring Romy Schneider and Alain Delon.


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  1. ^ "Swimming Pool (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 19 June 2003. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Swimming Pool". JP Box-Office (in French). Retrieved 23 August 2021.
  3. ^ "Swimming Pool (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Swimming Pool". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 23 August 2021.