The Swimmer (1968)

in response to Hope Corrigan

What are your favorite summer movies? Beachy, sweaty, 80s neon, thrillers, creature features. Give me something you’d put on during an afternoon thunderstorm.

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Woefully underrated movie starring the endlessly charismatic Burt Lancaster as Ned, a man who decides to swim home one summer day through all his neighbor's pools in the upper middle class suburbs of Connecticut. If you're slightly confused but intrigued, you'll love it. It's a perfect entry into the midcentury white suburban malaise sub-genre that I personally love, based on a very good short story by John Cheever that first appeared in the New Yorker in 1964.

Film Dept.

4 months ago

Comments

Hope Corrigan

@hopecorriganJun 4, 2026

Going on my list!!

Sarah Cooney

@fewerandbetterJun 6, 2026

I completely failed an assignment in English class in high school because I HAD to write a paper on this Cheever story instead of choosing from the three the teacher selected… worth it. This film is exactly how I pictured the story when reading it.

Jim Biancolo

@jimbiancoloJul 9, 2026

So good! I love the way Lancaster plays the character physically falling apart over the course of the movie.

Across Rec League

The Swimmer

Noah Morse

“This is one of the greatest movies ever made. Burt Lancaster peak performance and slept on in a very serious way. Incredible Cheever adaptation that is just as relevant now as it was at the time of its release.”

Elissa

“Sprightly, tidy, and devastating in the same way that an episode of Mad Men ought to be and often is. Based on a short story by John Cheever. Joan Rivers cameo, too.”