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Swimming Pools
Dive into a collection of cinema's most iconic swimming pool scenes.
Swimming pools are part of the fabric of our lives and our culture. Frequently playing a role on the silver screen – either as a key location, or essential to a plot or theme – they have come to serve as a repository of symbolic meaning throughout the history of film. Collected here is a small selection of films featuring some of the most memorable swimming pool moments.
How to Film... a Swimming Pool How to Film... a Swimming Pool
Short documentary 2025 17 mins
Cinema history demonstrates swimming pools are awash with symbolic possibility – artist Justin Anderson shares some tips on how to film them
La Piscine La Piscine
Drama 1969 123 mins Director: Jacques Deray
A ménage à trois stirs passion and jealousy beside a secluded pool in this sultry, French cult-thriller.
Swimming Home Swimming Home
Comedy 2024 96 mins Director: Justin Anderson
A family finds a stranger floating naked in their swimming pool in this sensual, sun-baked drama starring Christopher Abbott
It Follows It Follows
Horror 2014 100 mins Director: David Robert Mitchell
David Robert Mitchell’s remarkable, terrifying shocker is a fresh and stimulating meditation on sexual paranoia, steeped in horror cinema history.
Swimming Pool Swimming Pool
Drama 2003 102 mins Director: François Ozon
A crime novelist seeks peace but gets a dangerous muse in this twisted bilingual thriller from François Ozon.
Last Swim Last Swim
Drama 2024 96 mins Director: Sasha Nathwani
A day in the life of an ambitious 18-year-old Iranian-British girl transforms into a universal portrait of youth, hope and fears over the future.
Floating Skyscrapers Floating Skyscrapers
Drama 2013 89 mins Director: Tomasz Wasilewski
Hailed as ‘Poland’s first LGBT film’, Tomasz Wasilewski’s striking drama follows a champion swimmer whose gay relationship causes ripples.
Dogtooth Dogtooth
Drama 2009 93 mins Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Yorgos Lanthimos' scary, witty tale of a dysfunctional Greek family is original, ingenious and sadly relevant as a study of parent-child relationships
Let the Right One In Let the Right One In
Horror 2008 115 mins Director: Tomas Alfredson
A twelve-year-old boy befriends a mysterious girl with a dark secret, in Tomas Alfredson’s grownup tale of childhood vampirism.
Suspiria Suspiria
Horror 1977 101 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
The Last Picture Show The Last Picture Show
Drama 1971 128 mins Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Jeff Bridges, Cybill Shepherd and director Peter Bogdanovich all made their names with this touching coming-of-age tale.
Deep End Deep End
Drama 1970 92 mins Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
Jerzy Skolimowski’s darkly comic and utterly compelling story of teenage infatuation in a run-down swimming pool.
Orphée Orphée
Drama 1950 96 mins Director: Jean Cocteau
Magical retelling of the Orpheus myth by poet, playwright, artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau.
Weekend Weekend
Drama 2011 97 mins Director: Andrew Haigh
Andrew Haigh's internationally acclaimed tale of a brief encounter between two gay men.
Walkabout Walkabout
Drama 1970 101 mins Director: Nicolas Roeg
Jenny Agutter plays the teenage girl reliant on a young Aboriginal for her survival, in Nicolas Roeg's stunning Australian outback drama.
Holiday Holiday
Thriller 2018 88 mins Director: Isabella Eklöf
A lavish trip to the Turkish Riviera goes horribly awry in this disturbing tale of power, exploitation and complicity from the writer of Border.