Ralph Fiennes couldn't make a bigger splash if he tried, rampaging through director Luca Guadagnino's (I Am Love) relationship drama, full of colourful yarns and reckless whims and desires.
It's a flamboyant and hilarious performance, like Fiennes' short but brilliant role in the Coen Brothers' Hail, Caesar! and Wes Anderson's The Grand Budapest Hotel, reminding us there's more to him than the uptight Brit of recent James Bond films.
A remake of Jacques Deray's cult 1969 film La Piscine, A Bigger Splash is set on the sun-drenched, volcanic island of Pantelleria, somewhere between Sicily and Tunisia. Marianne Lane (Swinton) is a world famous Bowie-esque rock star recuperating from throat surgery out of the public eye, along with her film-maker boyfriend and recovering alcoholic Paul De Smedt (Schoenaerts).
Marianne and Paul's life is simple and idyllic - in a rich and famous kind of way. They sunbathe naked and have sex in the pool, visit a local lake where they smear each other with therapeutic mud, and eat simple, fresh food.
This peaceful Garden of Eden existence comes to a halt when Marianne's former boyfriend and record producer Harry Hawkes (Fiennes) gatecrashes their holiday, bringing with him a flirtatious Lolita-like teenager, his long lost daughter, Penny (Johnson).
