Film

A Bigger Splash

Name: A Bigger Splash
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Romance
Released: 2015
Cast: Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson, Corrado Guzzanti

Other titles called A Bigger Splash: the 1973 film.

Drama

Luca Guadagnino's sun-soaked thriller about desire, jealousy, and power dynamics. An American couple's Italian idyll fractures when a charismatic ex-lover and his daughter arrive uninvited. Visually sumptuous and psychologically unsettling, it's a slow-burn study of manipulation and appetite that rewards patience.

TMDb rating

3.1

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you like slow-burning, sun-baked psychological stories where the heat between characters does more work than the plot, and you enjoy watching glamorous people quietly unravel on a Mediterranean island.

Skip it if you want brisk plotting or a clear moral centre; it lingers on languid pool-side silences and runs over two hours, so patience is required.

What it asks of you: A long, unhurried stretch where much of the tension lives in glances, heat and quiet, not in plot mechanics, so you need to stay with it.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Call Me by Your Name2017

Guadagnino's follow-up refines his obsessive style into something transcendent. Another Italian summer, another forbidden attachment, but with a tenderness that makes the longing almost unbearable.

But Its pacing is glacial and the emotional resolution arrives quietly. If you need plot momentum or clear dramatic arcs, this will test you.

Mulholland Drive2001

David Lynch's LA noir has the same dreamlike logic and buried eroticism. Gorgeous people, gorgeous surfaces, and something rotten underneath. Deeply rewarding to puzzle through.

But It deliberately withholds clarity. The non-linear structure is intentional, and some viewers find that frustrating rather than illuminating.

The Talented Mr. Ripley1999

Anthony Minghella's adaptation captures the same poisoned charm and Italian setting. A shapeshifter ingratiates himself into a wealthy circle; every interaction crackles with menace masked as politeness.

But The moral ambiguity means there's no hero to root for. If you need someone to like, you'll find this cold.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A Bigger Splash

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Léon: The Professional1994

Both films use beauty and stasis to mask predatory dynamics. Where Guadagnino's characters are trapped by desire, Besson's are trapped by proximity. Same eroticism, opposite genres.

Luc Besson's neon-drenched thriller about a hitman and the girl who pursues his protection. It has the same intense, fetishized visual style and dangerous emotional undercurrents—but channeled through action instead of inertia.

But The relationship between adult and child is deeply uncomfortable, which is intentional but makes it a difficult watch. Some cuts are more explicit than others depending on the version.

Contempt1963

Godard's Brigitte Bardot film is about a marriage corroding under the pressure of ego and infidelity. Shot in VistaVision, it's visually stunning; the emotional erosion is pitiless.

But It's deliberately artificial and frequently self-conscious about cinema itself. Godard's formalism isn't for everyone.

The Night House2021

A married couple in a luxury hotel begins to unravel psychologically. Claustrophobic, intimate, and genuinely unsettling without resorting to jump scares or gore.

But Nothing external happens. It's all internal fracture, which some find too abstract or slow.

Jealousy2013

Kore-eda examines the slow poison of a love triangle. Restrained, observational, and deeply moving. The kind of film that lives in your head afterward.

But It's extremely quiet and introspective. If you prefer explicit conflict, this will feel underdramatic.

Under the Skin2014

Scarlett Johansson in a haunting, minimal sci-fi film about an alien predator moving through Scotland. Hypnotic and visually stunning, with a sense of unease that never lifts.

But There's almost no dialogue and the narrative is deliberately obscure. It's an experience rather than a story.

La Belle Noiseuse1991

Michel Piccoli as an aging artist drawn back into obsession by a young model. Michel Emmanuelle Seigner's presence is magnetic; the film explores creation and consumption with rare intelligence.

But Very long, very dialogue-heavy, and the pace is deliberate. Modern cinema has trained us for faster cuts.

The Servant1963

Both examine how seduction operates as a weapon. The servant and the visiting ex-lover are both shapeshifters who manipulate through surface charm. Guadagnino remakes Losey's moral ambiguity in color and heat.

Joseph Losey's black-and-white masterpiece about power and servitude in a London townhouse. A mysterious servant destabilizes his employer's life through suggestion rather than force. Claustrophobic, sexually charged, brilliantly acted.

But It's austere and psychologically abstract. You have to infer motivations and resist the urge to ask 'but why?' in plot-mechanics terms.