The film tracks the sexual awakenings of three 15-year-old girls, Marie, Anne and Floriane, in a middle-class suburb of Paris over the course of a single summer.

After observing a school synchronised swim competition, Marie becomes interested in Floriane, the team captain of The Stade Francais Swimmers.

Anne develops a crush on François after he walks in on her changing in the pool locker room.

Marie expresses an interest in joining the team in order to become closer to Floriane, who the other girls regard as a "slut".

Floriane recounts instances of sexual harassment she has experienced at the hands of older men.

At a swimming team party, François's attempts to have sex with Anne a second time but she spits in his mouth instead.

They float on their backs in the pool together, while Floriane dances alone at the party, oblivious to the effect that her actions have had upon Marie and Anne.

[4] Director Céline Sciamma said she had no trouble persuading the three leading actresses to join, despite the intimate scenes in the film.

The site's consensus is: "Water Lilies is a sharply-observed, provocative coming-of-age story that captures the anxieties of the early teen years.

[7] Tim Palmer discusses the film in the context of first-time, debutant filmmaking in France, which makes up around 40% of French cinema each year.

As such, Sciamma's film is formally audacious (notably in its minimalism), self-referential (as in the director's cameo as a McDonald's clerk), and very engaged with intimate rites-of-passage, the socialization process rendered through a feminine sensibility.

[8] ‘’Water Lilies’’ was released on DVD in North America and Europe by Koch Lorber Films (a subsidiary of Entertainment One) in 2008.