Water Lilies

Water Lilies takes place over one summer in a Paris suburb, where fifteen-year-old Marie signs up at the local swimming pool. There she becomes fascinated by Floriane, the confident star of the synchronized swimming team, while her friendship with Anne, a classmate as uncertain as she is, develops alongside it. The film follows Marie's attempts to get closer to Floriane and the emotional confusion that comes with first desire.

The film is the feature debut of French director Céline Sciamma, who also wrote the screenplay. It was followed by Tomboy, Girlhood and Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Pauline Acquart plays Marie, Louise Blachère plays Anne and Adèle Haenel plays Floriane, with Warren Jacquin, Christel Baras and Marie Gili-Pierre in supporting roles.

Released in 2007 and running 85 minutes, Water Lilies is a French drama with a runtime suited to its intimate scale. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6.7 from roughly 15,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.5 from around 483 votes. A critics' rating of 6.8 from 48 reviews places it close to the audience scores on both platforms, suggesting broadly comparable responses from reviewers and viewers.