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Director: Céline Sciamma

Cast: Pauline Acquart, Louise Blachere, Adele Haenel, Warren Jacquin, Christelle Baras, Marie Gili Pierre, Alice de Lencquesaing, Claire Pierrat, Barbara Renard

Runtime: 85min

Water Lilies is a lovely coming-of-age story about three fifteen-year-old girls and the beginnings of their sexual exploits, without romanticizing adolescence or, for the most part, over-estimating their maturity. The film centres around a local synchronized swimming team and its captain, Floriane (Adele Haenel), her teammate, the slightly plump, Anne (Louise Blachère), and Marie (Pauline Acquart), the quiet outsider and observer, who longs to join the team.

Floriane is very pretty and thus well-liked by all the boys, and equally disliked by her female contemporaries. She gains her acceptance and security in the only way she knows how: by winning the affections of boys infatuated with her and developing a tough, bitchy attitude to evade off jealous girls. As much as she claims to enjoy her exploits, Floriane seems to carry on out of obligation or to meet expectations rather than for personal pleasure or gain. In truth, she is terrified of sexual intercourse and even more so of her virginity being discovered.

Anne, on the other hand, longs for the attention of boys, not so much because she is really interested, but because she feels she is “behind in kissing” and needs to get started. The boy she is interested in, who accidentally walked in on her when she was naked and changing in the change room alone wants the more conventionally beautiful Floriane. The film spends a lot of time showing us Anne’s insecurities about her body and her shyness to expose her slightly-less-than-perfect body to the scrutinizing eyes of the other girls.

Anne is friends with Marie, who rarely speaks. They share intimacy without saying much. Marie watches Anne swim, and in doing so, she meets Floriane, who she uses to gain access to the swimming pool to watch the team swim. Floriane soon learns to trust Marie, the only person in her life who does not look at her with disgust. Marie looks up to and idolizes Floriane. Floriane is used to such behaviour but not from other girls and she thrives on it. She longs for Marie’s approval, even if she is too frightened to always offer a reciprocal relationship. For the most part, things are only hinted at, but the development of their relationship is sweet, heartbreaking, erotic, and tragic, all at once.

All of them are trying to live up to some imposed timeline for sexual exploration, but none of them are particularly ready to be doing what they feel they must do. They hurt one another, sometimes cruelly ,but they take comfort in one another too.

The film has some beautiful sequences of the synchronized swimmers, without romanticizing these amazing athletes. There are some close-up shots where we see them splashing away in the water or gasping for breath. The film strikes a perfect balance between showing us, what teenaged girls are doing, how they interact with one another and the the only kind of boys they seem to know with whom they kiss, with small glimpses of how they are struggling to cope with their confusion.

An American film might approach the subject matter by glorifying their sexual awakening, experimentation, and assume that these young women are capable of coping with their actions. But the Director here had the courage and patience to do something out of the ordinary and understand to embrace the young women’s confusion without glorifying or criticizing their actions. That is what makes Water Lilies a truthful gem about adolescence.