In this review of A Bigger Splash, we explore Luca Guadagnino’s erotic joyride, which is about the breaking point: what we think we want, and what happens when we get it — or don’t.
Articles from A Bigger Splash Week
To celebrate the release of Luca Guadagnino's A Bigger Splash, we're publishing a new feature on three of the lead actors of the film every day from May 16–19, and we'll finish the week off with a review of the film.
May 17: Not a girl, not (yet) a woman: Dakota Johnson and Hollywood femininity
May 18: The queer cult stardom of Tilda Swinton
May 19: Matthias Schoenaerts and the art of not speaking
May 20: Review of A Bigger Splash
Bonus: Interview with director Luca Guadagnino
Matthias Schoenaerts and the art of not speaking
Though he’s made films in English, French, and Dutch, Matthias Schoenaerts tends to communicate his characters’ inner lives through physicality rather than dialogue. This is the 4th feature in our special A Bigger Splash week.
The queer cult stardom of Tilda Swinton
Explicitly playing with gender and gender performance has been foundational to Swinton’s career and identity as a performer. Swinton’s queer identity emerges from a person who is both presumptively heterosexual and who has largely chosen presumptively heterosexual roles. So what makes her a queer cult figure? This is the 3rd feature in our special A Bigger Splash week.
Not a girl, not (yet) a woman: Dakota Johnson and Hollywood femininity
At its best, Dakota Johnson’s acting reveals the restrictiveness of labels like “girlhood” and “womanhood”. Dave Crewe examines how she subverts conventional female stereotypes. This is the second essay in our special A Bigger Splash week.
Luca Guadagnino talks A Bigger Splash
Like a good rock album, A Bigger Splash is sweaty, messy, carefree, and irresistible.