La Piscine

The holiday begins with a tension-filled pool scene where Marianne urges Jean-Paul to scratch her back. He complies, but then abruptly pushes her into the water and dives after her, mixing affection with aggression. This moment establishes the volatile dynamic that threads through their stay at the villa near Saint-Tropez.

In a later moment, Jean-Paul uses a branch to lash Marianne's bare buttocks, a display that feels playful yet grows more forceful as the scene cuts away. The act blurs the line between intimate play and physical harm. It hints at the film’s underlying power dynamics within the couple.

Harry, an old friend and Marianne's former lover, arrives with his 18-year-old daughter Penelope, whose existence they hadn’t known about. Marianne invites them to stay without consulting Jean-Paul, altering the group's balance of power and affection. The villa near Saint-Tropez becomes crowded with new tensions.

Harry drinks heavily and reshapes the dynamic by throwing a surprise party, while Jean-Paul, a recovering alcoholic, remains sober. He taunts Jean-Paul for abandoning serious writing for advertising, heightening insecurities about success and worth. The atmosphere thickens with underlying resentments.

Penelope disrespects her father and finds an unexpected confidant in Jean-Paul, with whom she spends a day by the sea. The growing closeness between them complicates the web of trust within the group. Their seaside time foreshadows the jealousy and doubt that will surface later.

That night, Harry drunkenly accuses Jean-Paul of seducing Penelope to mask his own failures. A confrontation ends with Harry being pushed into the pool and drowning, while Jean-Paul, already drinking, first stops him from escaping and then ensures his death by keeping him submerged. The act marks a devastating turn from tension to murder.

Jean-Paul strips Harry's clothes away and places fresh trousers and a shirt at the poolside to make the death appear accidental. He methodically covers up the crime, attempting to erase the evidence that could reveal what happened. The poolside scene becomes a grim tableau of deception.

After Harry's funeral, Inspector Lévêque visits the villa and expresses doubts about the accident theory. He notes that Harry wore an expensive watch that isn’t waterproof and finds no sweat on the clothes. The inspector’s skepticism plants the first seeds of official suspicion.

Marianne is drawn into the truth when Jean-Paul confesses to her, prompting her to search Harry's clothes hidden in the cellar. She discovers items that could contradict the supposed accident, but she chooses not to hand them to the police, and the inspector reluctantly suspends the inquiry. The couple's secrets begin to fracture their relationship.

Marianne takes Penelope to the airport and sees her off, during which Penelope demands the truth about her father's death. Marianne insists that it was an accident, attempting to protect Penelope from painful certainty. The departure scene underscores the moral cost of the cover-up.

Back at the villa, Marianne tells Jean-Paul they will not leave together, and she tries to call a taxi, only to have him interrupt her. The film ends with them standing side by side at the window overlooking the pool, finally embracing in a moment that makes their future feel unresolved and intimate. The final image seals the film's ambiguities about truth, guilt, and desire.