Dakota Johnson Gave One of Her Best Performances in This Erotic Psychological Drama – Therealfeeds – It’s Unseen
It’s often that a star’s breakout role isn’t necessarily the one that defines their career, and that is certainly true for Dakota Johnson. While Johnson may have introduced herself to worldwide audiences with her role as Anastasia Steele in the critically derided Fifty Shades of Grey franchise, she has proved to be a much more talented actress than the botched E.L. James adaptations would suggest.
In fact, their commercial success has given Johnson the freedom to pursue more artistically minded projects with filmmakers like Luca Gudagnino. While her work in Guadgnino’s acclaimed 2018 remake of Suspiria may have earned her some of the best reviews of her career, Johnson delivered one of her best performances in the 2015 erotic psychological drama A Bigger Splash.
A Bigger Splash follows the famous rock star Marianne Lane (Tilda Swinton), who is taking a relaxing vacation to an isolated Italian villa alongside her lover Paul De Smed (Matthias Schoenaerts), an acclaimed arthouse filmmaker. While her tour was a resounding success,
Marianne is undergoing surgery that prevents her from speaking beyond a series of grunts. Her initially relaxing vacation takes a strange twist when she is confronted by her former lover Harry Hawkes (Ralph Fiennes), a flamboyant music producer whom she passed on many years ago.
Harry and his adult daughter Penelope (Johnson) are now determined to disrupt Marianne’s current relationship. While she’s significantly younger than the rest of the cast, A Bigger Splash uses Johnson’s age to its advantage. She embodies the fleeting joys of youth that the other characters are so desperate to latch on to.
Johnson’s character is the most intriguing in A Bigger Splash because her intentions are initially ambiguous. While the details of Marianne’s relationship with Harry are left somewhat opaque, it’s evident that his desire to thwart the stability of her marriage is based on his own toxic feelings of being neglected.
Despite the exuberance of Fiennes’ excellent performance, there’s a slightly malevolent side to Harry that creeps to the surface. Comparatively, Johnson turns Penelope into an enigma, as it’s unclear how much agency she has within her father’s plot. While it appears that Penelope is working under her father’s orders, it’s suggested that simply toying with Marianne’s relationships is enough fulfillment for her.
Although there are a lot of broadly comedic moments in the film, A Bigger Splash creates legitimate tension through the chemistry between Johnson and Schoenaerts. It’s a unique take on the erotic thriller genre, where the viewer is forced to second guess which character they should empathize with. Initially,
Penelope appears to be seducing Paul to cause him discomfort and give her father room to rekindle his relationship with Marianne, as she creates a naive guise that is intended to attract Paul. However, Paul’s willingness to succumb to her suggestions implies that he may have been looking for an escape from his relationship in the first place, and that Penelope’s manipulation only solidified a direction he was already headed.
While the film takes a dark detour in its final act, Johnson inserts an appropriate amount of comedy into A Bigger Splash. There’s a point where the characters’ complete moral depravity becomes hilarious to watch, particularly given Harry and Mariannes’ failure to acknowledge their selfishness.
