Water Lilies

2007 ‘Naissance des pieuvres’ Directed by Céline Sciamma

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.

Pauline Acquart Adèle Haenel Louise Blachère Warren Jacquin Christel Baras Marie Gili-Pierre Alice de Lencquesaing Claire Pierrat Barbara Renard Esther Sironneau Jérémie Steib Yvonne Villemaire Christophe Vandevelde

Alternative Titles

Unter Wasser, Über Kopf, Lírios d'água, Ninféias, Water Lilies - Der Liebe auf der Spur, Les pieuvres, Noufara, 워터 릴리스

drama romance

85 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Stephanie ★★★½ 3

god what I would've given for a repressed lesbian mean girl to have emotionally manipulated me in high school
Review by Lucy ★★★½ 4

céline sciamma really has been the queen of sad french movies about ambiguously gay adolescence for like 10 years now
Review by Karsten Runquist ★★★★ 5

synchronized swimming is so underappreciated
Review by Olivier Lemay ★★★½ 1

and they were swimmates
Review by mary ★★★★

going through your crush’s 🥰❤️👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 trash 🗑 🤭 and eating 🍴😋 her rotten apple core 🍏😝🥴 #JustDykeThings
Review by Michelle Nash ★★★½ 1

Well folks!! She ate that musty apple years before Ellio fucked that peach!!
Review by camille n’jeri ★★★½ 2

you’re in her dms, i’m going through her trash and eating the apple she just threw away. we are not the same
Review by justmiaslife ★★★★½ 3

Portrait Of A Lady In Water
Review by Sally Jane Black 5

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Honestly, I didn't find it to be an unhappy ending. It's frustrating, sure, to have an unrequited crush, and it sucks to have a crush on someone who is so cavalier with your emotions, but. It also doesn't suck to have a crush. The elation that comes with liking someone can be savored, really, can be appreciated. I wrote recently that I often tell myself that crushes are springboards to great friendships because I get crushes on people who are unavailable for a variety of reasons; while it's true that's a mantra to help me get past the frustrating part of a crush, it's also just true. Liking someone so much is not a bad thing. Looking at that intensity…
Review by laura ★★★½ 4

is it possible to have a gay awakening even if you already know you’re gay? alexa play sofia by clairo.
Review by Beatriz ★★★½

marie: we look like a couple
floriane: a couple of besties
Review by Robyn ★★★★

It was all fun and games until she bit the gross apple

Recent reviews

Review by jpjesusss ★★★½

The acting in this is just fantastic. Passes the Bechdel test with ease.
Review by Stefan Ubiparip ★★★½

Crisp 100
7.5
Review by Darlick

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

The soundtrack of this was very surprising; I was not expected synth sounding stuff at all. A very unique story; a coming of age story that isn't really a romance, and instead shows a lot of the back and forth and gross parts of adolescence. Adèle was captivating as always, but also had an vulnerability hiding underneath that was very endearing. Still, she ended up (willingly or not) manipulating all the other characters around her, so although I felt the romantic tension and wanted Marie and her to end up together, it was likely for the best that she didn't. Like Portrait, nobody got a happy ending, with this being more of a cliffhanger. Constantly engaging, and while not as emotionally grueling as Portrait, was still a good time throughout. Also, it felt more sad since the leads didn't end up together, but the fact that the two friends reunited by the end maybe makes this more bittersweet than anything.
Review by Luke Settle ★★½

adele haenel is pretty good in this movie but pauline just sort of drags it down and i dont know it just seems really rushed at just an hour and 20 minutes just i dont know it couldve been so much better
Review by loveofloveless ★★½

hmm. i have so many questions????
Review by ⁉️

this is definitely fruity....
Review by AnaNobre ★★★½

"ceilings will never seem the same"
Review by sofisapolsky ★★★★

No hay nada mas indie que esta pelicula.
Review by lostinburning ★★★½

I didn’t really follow the story but I still liked it. End was beautiful. Fascinating to see her early work. The sensuality was so palpable.
Review by Sofia Porto ★★★★

ser adolescente é uma missão
Review by kellenjk ★★★½

I’ll never know what it’s like to be a young lesbian, but I do know what it’s like to be sexually awkward and pining for an unrequited love and Sciamma nails that feeling. You also begin to see the seeds of the attraction that she later crushes in Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Review by kat ★★★½

the montage at the end looked like a Skins episode