Swimming Pool
A British crime novelist travels to her publisher's upmarket summer house in Southern France to seek solitude in order to work on her next book. However, the unexpected arrival of the publisher's daughter induces complications and a subsequent crime.
Despite its small-scale budget of $7.8M, Swimming Pool became a commercial success, earning $22.4M worldwide—a 188% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Arcplot Score Breakdown
Weighted: Precision (70%) + Arc (15%) + Theme (15%)
Swimming Pool (2003) exhibits strategically placed story structure, characteristic of François Ozon's storytelling approach. This structural analysis examines how the film's 15-point plot structure maps to proven narrative frameworks across 1 hour and 42 minutes. With an Arcplot score of 7.3, the film balances conventional beats with creative variation.
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Sarah Morton sits alone in a crowded London restaurant, isolated and disconnected, watching couples around her - establishing her as a successful but emotionally barren crime novelist trapped in routine.. Notably, this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The inciting incident occurs at 12 minutes when Sarah arrives at John's isolated French villa - a physical disruption from her London life, entering a sensual Mediterranean world of heat, light, and the swimming pool that will transform her.. At 12% through the film, this Disruption aligns precisely with traditional story structure. This beat shifts the emotional landscape, launching the protagonist into the central conflict.
The First Threshold at 23 minutes marks the transition into Act II, occurring at 22% of the runtime. This shows the protagonist's commitment to Julie, John's daughter, arrives unexpectedly and disrupts Sarah's peace - Sarah chooses to stay rather than flee, committing to engaging with this force of sexual liberation and chaos., moving from reaction to action.
At 52 minutes, the Midpoint arrives at 51% of the runtime—precisely centered, creating perfect narrative symmetry. Significantly, this crucial beat Sarah and Julie bond over dinner and drinks, sharing personal stories - a false victory as Sarah believes she's breaking free from repression, but this intimacy will lead to darker territory., fundamentally raising what's at risk. The emotional intensity shifts, dividing the narrative into clear before-and-after phases.
The Collapse moment at 73 minutes (71% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, Julie kills Franck with a rock by the pool after he refuses to accept the pregnancy - a literal death, witnessed/enabled by Sarah, destroying any illusion of innocent observation or artistic detachment., indicates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Second Threshold at 81 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 80% of the runtime. Sarah finishes her manuscript, synthesizing her repressed desires and creative inspiration through the violent story she's witnessed/imagined - she has internalized the experience, transforming it into art., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
Swimming Pool's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 15 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs a 15-point narrative structure framework that maps key story moments. By mapping Swimming Pool against these established plot points, we can identify how François Ozon utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish Swimming Pool within the crime genre.
François Ozon's Structural Approach
Among the 7 François Ozon films analyzed on Arcplot, the average structural score is 7.5, reflecting strong command of classical structure. Swimming Pool takes a more unconventional approach compared to the director's typical style. For comparative analysis, explore the complete François Ozon filmography.
Comparative Analysis
Additional crime films include The Bad Guys, Batman Forever and 12 Rounds. For more François Ozon analyses, see The Crime Is Mine, Young & Beautiful and Frantz.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Sarah Morton sits alone in a crowded London restaurant, isolated and disconnected, watching couples around her - establishing her as a successful but emotionally barren crime novelist trapped in routine.
Theme
Sarah's publisher John Bosload tells her, "You need to relax, let go a little" - the thematic statement about repression versus liberation, creativity requiring emotional openness.
Worldbuilding
Establishment of Sarah's rigid, controlled London life: her jealousy of younger author Julia, her writer's block, her sterile apartment, her uptight personality, and her relationship with publisher John who offers his French villa as escape.
Disruption
Sarah arrives at John's isolated French villa - a physical disruption from her London life, entering a sensual Mediterranean world of heat, light, and the swimming pool that will transform her.
Resistance
Sarah explores the villa alone, settles into a routine, begins writing. She debates whether this escape will work, struggling with her rigid habits even in this new setting, maintaining her British reserve.
Act II
ConfrontationFirst Threshold
Julie, John's daughter, arrives unexpectedly and disrupts Sarah's peace - Sarah chooses to stay rather than flee, committing to engaging with this force of sexual liberation and chaos.
Mirror World
Julie brings her first lover to the villa, exhibiting uninhibited sexuality by the pool - she represents everything Sarah has repressed, becoming the thematic mirror that will force Sarah to confront her own desires.
Premise
The "fun and games" of Sarah observing Julie's sexual escapades, beginning to write again (inspired by Julie's life), their tense relationship developing, Sarah voyeuristically watching Julie seduce different men by the pool.
Midpoint
Sarah and Julie bond over dinner and drinks, sharing personal stories - a false victory as Sarah believes she's breaking free from repression, but this intimacy will lead to darker territory.
Opposition
Julie's relationship with Franck intensifies; Sarah becomes increasingly obsessed and involved; Julie reveals she's pregnant; tensions escalate; the line between Sarah's observation and participation blurs dangerously.
Collapse
Julie kills Franck with a rock by the pool after he refuses to accept the pregnancy - a literal death, witnessed/enabled by Sarah, destroying any illusion of innocent observation or artistic detachment.
Crisis
Sarah helps Julie dispose of Franck's body, digging the grave in darkness - Sarah processes her complicity in murder, her descent into the darkness she's always repressed, the death of her old moral certainty.
Act III
ResolutionSecond Threshold
Sarah finishes her manuscript, synthesizing her repressed desires and creative inspiration through the violent story she's witnessed/imagined - she has internalized the experience, transforming it into art.
Synthesis
Sarah returns to London, meets John at the publisher's office, where the "real" Julie appears as a conservative woman nothing like the wild seductress - revealing the ambiguity of what was real versus Sarah's fantasy/novel.
Transformation
Sarah gives John her new manuscript and sees a photo of his daughter - her enigmatic smile suggests she has been transformed, having accessed her repressed creativity and desire, no longer the barren woman from the opening.