Swimming Pool

A British mystery writer (Charlotte Rampling) borrows the French summer home of her publisher to write her next novel, but her solitude is disrupted by the man’s French daughter (Ludivine Sagnier), whose randy lifestyle disrupts the equilibrium of the strait-laced Englishwoman. Director François Ozon’s first English-language film (though much is in subtitled French) is a sexy tease that builds tension between the two characters and weaves in late plot twists with sinister insouciance. Rampling’s stiff upper lip and Sagnier’s sexy languor make a provocative combination, and Ozon (who co-wrote with Emmanuèle Bernheim) holds our interest with some low-key twists and a judicious use of Philippe Rombi’s music. But in the end, the red herrings become—well, fishy—and the suspense doesn’t pay off.