Very disappointing...

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

On the surface this seems to be a thriller-like movie in the bright sunlight of Italy. Still, it won't work if you watch the movie like this. The film was made when the European refugee situation turned serious. And all the characters in their self-centered ways seem so far away from the real world. Once Rock rebels but now just concerned with their private problems - it's no coincidence that the star has lost his voice, her lover has to fight an alcohol problem and the Hawkes character is simply appalling. To offer some explanation to the police they are willing to throw some nameless refugees under the bus. Still, I have to agree to some of the negative reviews. The film is very long and very slow and obviously the protagonists are quite negative (which is the point of the film). I can't see much of character development which is mentioned in some reviews. These characters CANNOT develop anymore. They are stuck in their ways, which probably also the reason why the girl is crying at the end of the film. It is not a coincidence that the setting is Lampedusa, where many refugee boats arrived. But is this really helpful to hide the message when this topic is so big and important? As a classic "thriller", the movie is obviously not working (imagine what a veteran Hollywood director of the 1930s would have done with the plot! William Wellman or William Dieterle would have told the story in 10 minutes). So if you appreciate a subtle, indirect way of storytelling this might be a movie for you and as some positive reviews show, the movie works for many people.

I hadn't seen A Bigger Splash but after being dazzled by Call Me By Your Name, I rushed to find and see this Luca Guadagnino 2015 film and it confirmed without a doubt that Luca Guadagnino is a remarkable filmmaker with a retro eye and a futuristic sensibility. His elegance makes cinematic the most unpalatable of tales and this one, a four sided triangle, it's unpalatable and scrumptious all at the same time. Tilda Swinton is superb as the voiceless singer, Dakota Johnson gave me, for the first time, a glimpse into what she could be, Matthias Schoenaerts hits all the right notes even the most unexpected ones but Ralph Fiennes gives a performance that it hast to be seen to be believed mostly because this is the same actor in Schindler's List, Quiz Show, In Bruges and last year he provided me woth one of the funniest scenes of the year in Hail Caesar. So, as you must gather, I had a great time and I'll wait for the next Guadagnino with childish anticipation

An aging rockstar convalesces at a private home on a Greek Island with her sober lover... until the party arrives in the form of her ex-lover and his spoiled daughter. Lushness of behavior and scenery might be another cliché if not for the singer being almost mute; wonky hipster Swinton does a fine job despite having little to say, and fanatical carefree Fiennes gives a weighty performance that strikes a balance. Meanwhile, party guests come and go, most everyone gets naked in the sun, and a fridge full of wine and fresh seafood fuels "neuvo-riche" chatter as the Rolling Stones get a listen on vinyl. Yet despite its artful and intimate approach, this film sells its soul as it slow-dances toward an unlikely plot point that was maybe added at the last minute to appease conventional audiences. All about sex, drugs & rock'n'roll, this exotic vacation is worth taking only if you can forgive its lazy and proletarian denouement.

I loved it. I gave it an 8. Beautifully filmed, sensual laid back acting performances with an authentic feel for the laissez fair atmosphere on a holiday island in the Mediterranean. It reminded me at times of the 1969 movie La Piscine with Alain Delon and Romy Schneider. And of course the Lolita theme is in there. The young girl coming of age lying about her age, controlling the men around her with her sexuality. Like Tilda's Swinton character used to control Harry. Harry who is living on his past achievements and now merely is tolerated by the people he loved before. The young girl who is not a weak vulnerable girl but a girl who wants to be in control and who observes the adults around her. An Oedipus complex, Paul killing his 'brother' Harry, there is the Greek tragedy for you. Growing older, literally using a different voice as life prolongs. The end of a rock'n roll lifestyle (the record Emotional Rescue literally dies with Harry in the pool and his death literally becomes an emotional rescue for Harry, Marianne and Paul. The young Penelope on the other hand is just starting her emotional rock'n'roll years and flies to the rest of her life crying in her airplane seat).Harry worshiping Marianne, Harry loving his newly discovered daughter Penelope in an oedipal complex kind of relationship, the policeman who is a worshiping fan of Marianne, Paul loving Marianne in a true and honest way while he is lusting after 17 year old Penelope. The rich and famous and self-absorbed westerners enjoying a low brow holiday in between ordinary people. Getting privileges ordinary people would not get (a table in a full restaurant, a karaoke machine and a party in an empty cafe) And when necessary they won't think twice about blaming the strange foreign other, the African immigrants. Just as easily they will lie to save their own.It's a beautiful, well made sensual slow paced movie.