Forty-something Bertrand (Mathieu Amalric), a chronic depressive, gains new-found vigour after joining a team of male synchronized swimmers. For each of the team members, the training sessions are like escape valves, a refuge from daily stress. Remarkably, these guys decide to gamble on a crazy plan: to enter the Men’s World Synchronized Swimming Championships! Yes, it’s a wild idea, but it invigorates them – stressful solitudes diminish dramatically as they lose their identities in collective effort whenever they enter the municipal pool. Virginie Efira and Leïla Bekhti play good cop/bad cop roles as the team’s coaches.

Director Gilles Lellouche’s star-studded comedy is an uplifting tale of disenchanted men finding
fulfillment and self-esteem...