A Bigger Splash Review: A Brilliant, Twisting Drama with Career-Best Performances

Sean Patrick reviews A Bigger Splash, a standout film from 2016 starring Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, and Matthias Schoenaerts. A gripping, intellectual must-see.

By Sean Patrick, Regional Media Film Critic

A Bigger Splash is one of the best films of 2016—an elegant, cerebral, and emotionally intense drama directed by Luca Guadagnino. It stars Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ralph Fiennes, and Dakota Johnson in a complex story of passion, power, and disruption on a remote Sicilian island.

The Plot

Swinton plays Marianne Lane, a legendary rock star recovering from throat surgery. She's vacationing in quiet seclusion with her boyfriend, Paul (Matthias Schoenaerts), hoping to heal and avoid the outside world. But their peace is shattered by the unexpected arrival of her exuberant ex-lover and producer, Harry (Ralph Fiennes), who brings with him his enigmatic daughter Penelope (Dakota Johnson).

Harry is a whirlwind—imagine Ralph Fiennes channeling Robin Williams. His energy is explosive, his charm undeniable, and his presence destabilizing. Fiennes gives one of the most unique performances of his career—magnetic, obnoxious, and unforgettable. He’s a character you both cringe at and care about.

Standout Performances

Tilda Swinton is mesmerizing, playing Marianne with extraordinary subtlety, especially since her character is nearly mute due to the surgery. Her silence creates space for Fiennes to dominate scenes, and for tension to build through body language and expression.

Matthias Schoenaerts delivers the best performance of his career as Paul, a man caught between loyalty and discomfort. His internal conflict is palpable, as he tries to hold it all together while unraveling inside.

Dakota Johnson adds intrigue as Penelope—a mysterious and possibly manipulative presence. Her role becomes more layered as the story unfolds, and the film wisely avoids telegraphing her motivations too clearly.

Why It Works

A Bigger Splash is a film that rewards careful viewing. The plot is full of quiet symbolism, moral complexity, and unexpected twists. Rather than spoon-feeding its themes, the movie lets them simmer and unfold organically. There’s no hand-holding—just deeply intelligent filmmaking that respects its audience.

The direction, writing, and cinematography are top-tier. This is not just a film about relationships—it's about performance, control, desire, and the emotional residue of the past. And it builds to a finale that is both shocking and earned.

Final Verdict

A Bigger Splash is one of the most thoughtful, beautifully crafted films of the decade. With career-best performances from Ralph Fiennes and Matthias Schoenaerts, and yet another masterclass from Tilda Swinton, it’s a must-see for anyone who appreciates smart, layered cinema.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

I’m Sean Patrick. Thanks for reading.

A Bigger Splash, Movie Review, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Matthias Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson, Luca Guadagnino, Best Films 2016, Psychological Drama, Indie Film, European Cinema

Movie Review Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone (2012) 

Directed by Jacques Audiard 

Written by Jacques Audiard 

Starring Marion Cotillard, Matthias Schoenaerts

Release Date May 17th, 2012 

Published November 10th, 2012 

I was reading another critic's take on the foreign film entry "Rust and Bone" and was struck by the phrase 'misery porn.' I believe this same phrase has been attached to another Awards contender this season, the indie flick "Beasts of the Southern Wild." In both cases the phrase is an exaggeration, though as with most over-statement it carries an element of truth.

Both "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and "Rust and Bone" ladle on the dire circumstances of their protagonists with the thickness of heavy syrup. But, to call the portrayal of poverty in either film 'fetishistic' is to miss the point of both films. "Rust and Bone" for sure is not so much a portrait of poverty as it is a careful study of a romance between people defined by dire circumstance.

'Misery Porn'

Alain (Matthias Schoenaerts) is a lost soul only more alienated by the arrival in his life of a five year old son, Sam (Armand Verdure), thrust upon him by an absentee mother. Alain is on the run from something, though we aren't sure what. He's shifty and nervous at first glance and in the course of "Rust and Bone" we don't so much warm up to him as we come to accept who he is in the way the other characters in the film choose to.

Stephanie (Marion Cotillard) is more appealing though nearly as troubled. Our first glimpse of Stephanie comes as she picks a fight in a bar where Alain is a bouncer. She's bloodied and not terribly coherent, accepting Alain's offer of a ride home only as a taunt to a lover waiting back at her apartment.

They're both missing something

Why when Stephanie loses both her legs in an accident involving a killer whale, she's an Orca trainer when she's not picking bar fights, she chooses to call Alain is a mystery the film has no interest in clearing up. It's possible with his deep emotional wounds Stephanie see's an equivalent to her physical wounds but director Jaques Audiard is too smart to underline the connection.

To say that Alain and Stephanie begin a tentative romance is a misnomer. For Stephanie there is romance, for Alain there is just sport. Alain takes Stephanie to bed on a whim, figuring he's doing his disfigured friend a favor by showing her that her parts still function. Okay, the early sex scenes do somewhat underline Alain's missing emotional parts as what Stephanie is drawn to but not so much that it doesn't feel authentic.

Learning to love your damage

That's the thrust of "Rust and Bone," two damaged people learning to love the damage in each other. The rest of the film is filled out with the twin lures of sex and violence. The sex scenes in "Rust and Bone" are as powerful and compelling as any sex scene in 2012 and Audiard is equally unsparing in the film's violence; Alain takes to underground mixed martial arts fights as a way of making money and filling a need for self-punishment that he is incapable of explaining in words.

The further you get from "Rust and Bone" the more it resonates with you; Cotillard's beauty and despair mixes with Schoenaerts soulful brutality to create the most compelling and dark romance of the year. Both performances are award worthy as is the films elegant cinematography by Stephane Fontaine. I also loved director Audiard's use of American pop songs in unexpectedly poignant ways. Katy Perry's "Firework" is played to gloriously dramatic effect in one of the film's many powerful scenes.

"Rust and Bone" is not a movie I will likely ever watch again; it is at times quite bleak. That said, I can't help but admire the film even if I never see it again.