Girls Can't Swim
Wellspring Media | Release Date: April 19, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Ultimately lacks the epic dimension of "Y Tu Mamá También," but its vision of that awkward age when sex threatens to overwhelm everything else is acute enough to make everyone who has been there squirm with recognition. Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
"Adolesence can kill you," Birot has said in an interview. In a film that leaves the "you" intentionally vague, moment after moment she shows how. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
The film's intimate camera work and searing performances pull us deep into the girls' confusion and pain as they struggle tragically to comprehend the chasm of knowledge that's opened between them. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
It includes abundant sex and full-frontal nudity, not to titillate but because it's needed to convey the inner sexual turmoil the girls are going through. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Sensitive and thoughtful coming-of-age story.
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
There is a ton of psychology and inference in this intriguing first feature by French director Anne-Sophie Birot. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Birot is an engaging storyteller who can inspire luminous, spontaneous portrayals, but her ending is so drastic that it feels unearned, a note of bleakness struck merely for its own sake. Read full review
70
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
Falters when it takes a final, violent turn into melodrama. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeLeighton Klein
While not all transitions to adulthood are so fraught, there's much truth and no small amount of poetry in Girls Can't Swim. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneLoren King
Despite its shortcomings, Girls Can't Swim represents an engaging and intimate first feature by a talented director to watch, and it's a worthy entry in the French coming-of-age genre. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Sensitive, extraordinarily well-acted drama. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The phrase "coming of age," when applied to movies, almost always implies sex, but Girls Can't Swim has nothing useful to say about sex (certainly not compared to Catherine Breillat's brilliant "Fat Girl" from last year), and is too jerky in structure to inspire much empathy from us. Read full review
50
SalonCharles Taylor
It's a cynical way to pass time, the cynicism that comes from being presented with something you've seen a hundred times before. Read full review
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