Too much talent is never enough and two such talents as Tilda Swinton and Ralph Fiennes together, in tandem, is truly a double treat.

Already gobbling up the box office in Hail Caesar!, this terrific duo team up again in A BIGGER SPLASH, a mysterious, delirious confection from director, Luca Guadagnino.

Tilda plays Marianne, a huge rock star now in retirement and recuperating from a vocal chord malady. Together with her current boyfriend, Paul, she is recluse on Pantelleria, an island between Sicily and Tunisia, closer to the latter by a 30 kilometer margin.

This remote seclusion is no impediment to her past lover and record producer, Harry, played in flash form by Ralph Fiennes.

First time Marianne finds out about his imminent arrival is by mobile phone as she and Paul sunbathe on the beach as Harry’s plane casts a dark shadow over their seaside sojourn.

Marianne faithfully meets Harry at the airport, but he is not alone. In tow is Penelope, a nubile apparently the product of a far flung fling of Harry’s wild oats days. But is Harry’s paternity of Penelope true or a ruse?!

Harry, one time collaborator with the Rolling Stones, is on a crusade to convince Marianne back into the limelight. His mission is emotional rescue, for both of them.

Fiennes is a force of nature as Harry, a Peter Pan example of the Peter Principle. A survivor of 19 nervous breakdowns and catalyst, probably, of many more, a highly energised and adrenalised man, a whirlwind of activity and verbal velocity, a man of music, he feels it in his soles, busting moves like a jumping jack flash.

Harry is a tornado whipped up by nostalgia, endeavouring to reclaim the recluse and reinvigorate their romance.

He is the serpent in the garden and his daughter, the apple, a fruit not fallen far from the father.

Paul is concerned that any stirring of innate feelings Marianne has for Harry is just sympathy for the devil.

As Penelope, Dakota Johnson is a revelation, little bit Lolita, but cerebral, intelligent and instinctual, a slow burn seductress, as much a part of the tempest that descends on the island, as Harry is.

Of course, Tilda Swinton, is as gorgeous and peerless as usual, and Matthias Schoenaerts dutifully inhabits the damnably damaged and domestically hang-dogged Paul.

A BIGGER SPLASH is written by David Kajganich and is loosely based on the film La Piscine which in turn was based on a novel by Alain Page. Kajganich’s script cleverly inlays notes and nods to classical texts with an overlay of 20th century rock music, with a distinct emphasis on the Rolling Stones. Although not heard in the film, one is reminded of the Stones classic, Play With Fire. Interestingly, Harry Nilsson’s Jump into the Fire gets a guernsey, and to great effect.

Cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, exquisitely essays the Mediterranean locale, a place of beauty and mystique.Yorick shot both Guadignino’s last film, I am Love and Jim Jarmush’s last picture, Only Lovers Left Alive, both starring Tilda Swinton. Indeed A BIGGER SPLASH plays like a Jarmush picture and I am also reminded of Guadignino’s compatriot, Paolo Sorrentino, who has made two films in English, both with music as integral and intricate parts, Youth and This Must be the Place.

Aquatic, erotic and a master class in the making of ricotta, A BIGGER SPLASH is a thrilling, intriguing panorama of secluded public place and hidden private passions.

A BIGGER SPLASH is the sort of cinema worthy of splashing your cash for the big screen experience, and worthy of paying to see it again.