The Swimmer

It’s the 1990s on the Costa da Morte.The young Nico often goes barnacle hunting with her father, Tano, a heroin addict who survives through dealing and poaching—and who shares part of the profits with her. Nico keeps this secret because her uncles, with whom she has lived since her mother abandoned her as a child after getting involved with drugs, would never approve. Sometimes, Nico loses consciousness. A strange buzzing invades her mind, everything goes black, and she faints. When she wakes up, she’s in a different place, with no memory of how she got there. But almost always, in that darkness, vivid images and sensations appear. One day, while fishing on the rocks with her father, Nico suffers one of these blackouts and has a vision of the ocean floor. It hadn’t happened in a long time. She asks her father not to say anything to her uncles—she doesn’t want them to make her life harder. Especially because, that very night, Nico is planning to run away. She’s been saving up for years to leave the village, and now it’s time to make her escape. But just when everything is ready, she discovers her father has stolen all her savings. Without the money, Nico is trapped. Everything seems to fall apart—until a camper van shows up on the beach. Nico doesn’t know it yet, but the van belongs to Elsa, her mother, who has returned to the village after so many years. And she’s not alone. In the waves, a girl Nico’s age swims almost naked. This is how the Swimmer, a mysterious girl who claims to be traveling with Elsa in the van, enters Nico’s life. The two teenagers form a bond, though Nico doesn’t quite understand who she is, whether what she says is true, or if she can be trusted. To follow through with her plan and finally leave the village, Nico will have to find her father and face the return of her mother—the one she’s rejected for abandoning her. On this dual journey, Nico will descend into an increasingly dark world. The Swimmer, who emerged from the depths and seems to fear nothing and need no one, becomes a kind of mirror for Nico—one that allows her to uncover her past and reconcile with her mother. And by diving into those depths, Nico will discover that the absences that once weighed so heavily on her actually hold the power to make her stronger—and less alone.