Sink or Swim did not go unnoticed when it was screened as part of the out-of-competition official selection at the Cannes Film Festival. This comedy by Gilles Lellouche, which is his third film as a director, has all the elements of a “feel good movie,” an overwhelming surge of humanity that immediately brings to mind a cult movie, The Full Monty.

No striptease here, but synchronized swimming! No one jobless, but a group of men in their forties in search of meaning. In their municipal pool, together they feel free and useful. Together, they put all their energy into a discipline previously reserved for the fairer sex.

The cast brings together a bevy of stellar French actors, including Mathieu Amalric, Guillaume Canet, Benoit Poelvoorde, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Philippe Katerine, not to mention the female cast featuring Leïla Bekhti, Virginie Effira and Marina Foïs.

As Le Monde reported during the screening of this comedy at Cannes, “not one of them is vulgar, not one of them comes off as a big moron. All of them, despite the sense of dereliction they share, stand out with their own personal story that made them who they are. The director scatters elements of their past throughout the film, at regular intervals and with a rare fluidity.”

Sink or Swim, produced by Trésor Films and Chi-Fou-Mi Productions, is co-produced by Studiocanal, which also distributes it in France and other international markets. It is opening in France on October 24.