Water Lilies
Koch Lorber Films | Release Date: April 4, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
67
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Although a little too open-ended to be wholly satisfying, Water Lilies is still an excellent directorial debut. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's a world where every emotion feels like the earth moving, and where the shifting tectonics of young lust and friendship, along with the lifelong lessons of a broken heart, have never felt more real. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Though the material is familiar, Sciamma has a light touch and avoids many teen-movie cliches. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Everything in Water Lilies is more guarded, more complex and far more interesting than it seems. Read full review
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
The painfully spot-on essence of teen angst meets the spirit of Esther Williams in Water Lilies. First film by gifted scripter-helmer Celine Sciamma nails the aching doubts and offhanded cruelty of 15- and 16-year-old girls. Read full review
70
Village VoiceNick Pinkerton
French director Céline Sciamma doesn't quite have the stun of discovery--mortified adolescent sexuality is something of a national specialty, after all--but she inexhaustibly endeavors after the indelible image. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Dismissed in some quarters as trash because it depicts a sexual act (of sorts) between two teenage girls, Water Lilies struck me instead as a hypnotic and wholly convincing look at teen culture from the inside, with all its courage, cruelty and unspoken codes of silence intact. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The elegant Water Lilies is not about answers but about discovery of self and of others in all its pain and pleasure. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Though Water Lilies endlessly teases the audience with its sapphic subtext and young female flesh, Sciamma seems most interested in showing how extremely cruel adolescent girls can be to each other. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A distant thematic and artistic cousin of Sofia Coppola's "The Virgin Suicides" and Lucrecia Martel's "The Holy Girl." Read full review
60
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Water Lilies is a nice, watchable, attractive, minor work. What it lacks is a sense of purpose, a commitment not just to its characters but also to its own reason for being. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
With no adults to add melodrama, the sweet Water Lilies depends on the emotion in its young performers' faces to move forward. Read full review
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