CONTAINS SPOILERS
"The acting throughout is superb, with Swinton sitting back and watching with obvious pleasure as Fiennes gnaws up the scenery and beach furniture with genuine vim. Schoenaerts once again proves himself a charismatic and compelling actor alongside the excellent Johnson."
"The four lead actors are excellently cast, their vastly different screen presence contributing to the pivotal yin and yang of the mix. [...] The biggest delight of the bunch might be Johnson. After turning in a performance that’s better than it has any reason to be in Fifty Shades of Grey earlier this year, she takes on a role that’s the polar opposite of the demure, repressed Anastasia Steele and runs away with it. Playful, assertive, utterly unself-conscious, she not only holds her own opposite other veteran actors in the cast but again elevates a character that could well have been a harmless cliché."
"While Harry embarks on his quest to woo Marianne, the sexpot Penelope has her sights set on Paul, showering him with coquettish queries and, in one sweltering scene, lounging naked by a hot spring and signaling him to enter. While her turn as S&M newbie Anastasia Steele in Fifty Shades was impressive, this is a far sexier turn.
[...] And, while it has its faults—such as a subplot involving migrants that, though timely, feels tacked on and too on the nose (#FirstWorldProblems, get it?), and a comedown following its third act twist—Guadagnino’s film is splendid-looking through and through, and its actors, in particular Fiennes and Johnson, give it their all."
"Continuing to experiment with extreme emotional choices motivated by sexual desire, director Luca Guadagnino follows up his critically acclaimed I Am Love with a far less satisfying study of seduction and destruction in A Bigger Splash. This remake of Jacques Deray’s cult 1969 film La Piscine, which starred Alain Delon, Romy Schneider and Jane Birkin, vaunts an equally cool and desirable cast (Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts and Dakota Johnson) and an updated role for the female lead, who is now a very pro-active rock star. But the film feels empty and intellectualized at the core, where it should feel powerfully emotional. Sophisticated shooting, abundant nudity and Johnson’s presence in the naughty nymphet role should generate initial boxoffice for U.S. distrib Fox Searchlight, but it’s a far cry from, say, the realm of Only Lovers Left Alive, in which Swinton scored as a rock ‘n’ roll vampire."
"Guadagnino is generous with nudity, male and female alike, and Paul spends much of his time caught in the oh-so-curious gaze of young Penelope, who provides a far less virginal nymphet for “Fifty Shades of Grey” star Johnson to play."
"As a re-make, it’s not so original maybe, just the most consistently enjoyable film at Venice so far. "
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