POOLS - Mark Reviews Movies

Pools, Circle Collective

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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 21, 2025

Kennedy (Odessa A'zion) doesn't know what she wants, but whatever that is, it isn't what her life is at the moment. That's where Pools finds its protagonist, stuck in summer school at a small college in a wealthy Chicago suburb and, more importantly, still grieving the sudden death of her beloved father. Writer/director Sam Hayes' debut feature aims at some insight into this character, but the story's relaxed nature and focus on other characters get in the way of that.

As a hang-out story, there is some mischievous fun to be found here. Kennedy's trying to find some small amount of joy in her aimless, melancholy life, for sure. It's hot this particular summer in Lake Forest, and the college's air conditioning systems don't seem to be working anywhere on campus. Kennedy's big plan is to find a pool somewhere nearby and to spend a relaxing evening in the refreshing water with anyone who cares to join her.

That part of the mission should be relatively easy. The city is littered with mansions, seemingly each one with a fancy in-ground pool, and at the dormitory where Kennedy lives while zoning out during or skipping class, there are other students in need of some time off.

Hayes' script begins and, after a good amount of shenanigans and misadventures and time spent with those other characters, ends with Kennedy. In theory, she should be the focal point of this entire story to some extent at least, but as odd as it may sound, the filmmaker's generosity toward those other figures in the story gets in the way of that.

To be sure, it is nice to get to know some of these other characters. They include Blake (Tyler Alvarez), one of Kennedy's dorm neighbors, who wants to become a doctor and has chosen to take part in summertime classes to ensure that he graduates on time. Blake's a bit of a loner, clearly has a crush on Kennedy, and would like to at least be her friend. She doesn't have many or any at this point in her life, and while she insists that's by choice and that she needs to determine if Blake is worthy of friendship, it's pretty obvious she's at least as lonely as this guy.

She was once very close friends with Delaney (Ariel Winter), but they don't even talk anymore. That back story and relationship are explored later on in the movie, but just as much attention is given to Delaney's new friend/roommate Shane (Francesca Noel) and a love triangle that has developed between these pals. The man in the middle is Reed (Mason Gooding), who has a thing for Delaney, although she thinks he's just a dumb jock who's not worth the time, and whom Shane stares at with longing while he exercises shirtless outside. There's more to Reed than anyone's first impressions of the young man, and again, there's little denying how pleasant it is to learn that and get a better understanding of this character.

Where, though, does Kennedy figure in to all of this? She doesn't, really, except that she's the ringleader of this nighttime excursion to find an available pool behind a mansion where the residents either don't notice them or aren't home. From the start, the stakes of the little plot there is here belong to the character, too. The college's dean Miss Lewis (Suzanne Cryer) has given Kennedy one last chance to dedicate herself to her classwork or, at the very least, start attending those classes in their entirety. If she doesn't, Kennedy will lose a full-ride scholarship and be expelled from college.

That Kennedy doesn't seem to care, even though she announces this outing to the pools as a last night of freedom, is the whole point of the character. She's avoiding her education for some reason, and as she reveals more about herself and what happened to her father, it might be the same reason that she's oddly, once she does explain about her dad, drawn to the pools. There is, in other words, a lot more to Kennedy, in terms of what makes her tick and how contradictory she can be. After spending a night with those other characters and their adventures at a particular mansion, the most important details about and developments of the character are shoved the last act of the story.

Even then, Hayes doesn't allow that section to belong to Kennedy exclusively. As the students come up with and execute their plan for some pool time and to wallow in luxury for one night, the script also follows Michael (Michael Vlamis), an air conditioning repairman who's also in a rut—albeit a much tonally lighter one than Kennedy. The way the third act forces these two together feels more contrived than whatever that connection might be worth.

Pools does find some perceptive and tender moments within its meandering narrative and its collection of distracting side players. It's obvious that Hayes believes each of them deserves something, but those somethings ultimately detract from the character study at its core.

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