Cold Water (French: L'Eau Froide) is a 1994 French drama film by Olivier Assayas (his debut work).
Christine (Virginie Ledoyen) and Gilles (Cyprien Fouquet) are two troubled teenagers who have difficult relationships with their parents. When Christine helps Gilles shoplift, she gets caught by the police and her parents send her to a nursing home. She escapes, meets with Gilles and convinces him that they should run away.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Ending: It ends with Gilles waking up to find that Christine has disappeared and left him a blank note. Where did Christine go? What does the blank note mean? That's for the audience to decide.
- Five-Finger Discount: Gilles is shown stealing several vinyl records from a shop and later selling them at school.
- The Runaway: Christine talks a reluctant Gilles into running far away from their families and go to a commune of artists who live off the grid.
- Wild Teen Party: Christine and Gilles meet at a derelict house where several other youths party with abandon. Lots of drugs are involved and at one point they make a huge bonfire out of the furniture they find and dance around it.
