Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

Melanie Bouvet The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

shn7945 Beautiful movie. I am frankly really surprised at the high quality of every aspect of the filmmaking! Maybe the most 'authentic' look at people in India - and this is compared to the good (non-bollywood) movies made in India as well as movies made here about India. The sense of place is really strong. The story is completely 'real' without any tricks to make it sensational. The cinematography is really amazing, and the feel of the whole thing gentle and warm, without being hokey in any way. Using real people instead of actors is a very good idea - seeing this makes me wonder why we bother with real actors at all. :) I hope Smith paid all these people really well even though he obviously didn't make anything from it. I'm really glad that this movie is available on iTunes.

Mike B This is a very slow-paced film which I rather liked. It takes place in India in the town of Goa and is centred around the friendship between 3 adolescent children – 2 boys and a girl. One of the boys also be-friends a man (he is the father of the female character) who owns the pool – where the film title is taken from. The film has a decidedly non-North American perspective. There are no histrionics and the relationship between the different people is very authentic.It is character driven and the plot is kind of minimal, but there is a nice resolution at the end. It is kind of like "Slum Dog Millionaire" with lots of tranquilizers.

reedsligar I watched "The Pool" today, because I didn't have anything better to do. I was expecting it to be boring, but I was pleasantly surprised. The premise of the film is a lower class Indian boy who becomes obsessed with a pool. He offers to work for the family who lives there in order to swim in it without being a thief. As much as that sounds like a non-existing storyline, it really isn't. The characters develop throughout the film and you can really relate to them. I found the film quite entertaining and uplifting, even though the subject matter is depressing. The depiction of lower class India was perfect, you will now thank God that you don't have to scrub bathroom floors. The ending is incredibly touching, and it made me thankful that I can go to school. I highly recommend this film. - Reed S.

Kris Cheppaikode Well-respected documentarian Chris Smith proves himself a master of narrative form with this incredibly subtle and moving Hindi-language drama, shot in India. Along with Elite Squad, Edge of Heaven, Reprise, and Let the Right One In, "The Pool" is easily one of the best films of the year.As a New York-based Indian-American filmmaker who grew up in Wisconsin and has shot fiction films in India, I was nonetheless skeptical about a Wisconsin-based documentarian, even one of Smith's stature, working from a Midwestern-set fictional short story reset in India. Western filmmakers tend to miss the subtleties that make India unique and exciting, choosing instead to exoticize India's most superficial differences, condemn its shortcomings, or talk vaguely about its 'contradictions' (when they mean "contrasts," revealing their ignorance of the same contrasts in any big city).Smith doesn't fall into any of these pitfalls, and has created a work of lasting honesty and beauty. Watching it, it's hard to believe Smith is not only not Indian, but does not speak Hindi. I have been recommending the film to everyone I know, even more so on second viewing (at the South Asian International Film Festival, where it won top honors), once I could worry less about what was going to happen next and focus more on the incredibly nuanced script and acting, lush sound design, delightful score, and masterful framing and camera movement."The Pool" has the lyricism and humanism of Satyajit Ray, the simple strength and beauty of the great Italian neo-realists, and a great documentarian's eye for telling detail and feeling of captured reality.I hope the film wins some year-end nominations and awards, followed by a wider re-release, because everyone who loves great cinema deserves to see "The Pool."