Swim To Me (2025): A Haunting Family Drama Surfaces on Netflix | Cast, Plot, Release Date & Review 🌊

The tides of intimacy, secrecy, and longing rise in Netflix’s newest international drama. Swim To Me, based on Alia Trabucco Zerán’s best-selling novel, premieres October 10, bringing viewers into the quiet yet turbulent world of Estela and the young girl whose life becomes inextricably bound to hers.

Directed by Dominga Sotomayor, this Chilean family drama explores themes of class, dependence, and the invisible currents of love and control that pull two people into a secret world with no easy escape.

As one character reflects, “The sea never asks permission. It just comes in.” That inevitability shapes every moment of this haunting story.

🌊 The Story of Swim To Me

At its heart, Swim To Me tells the story of Estela, a young woman who leaves behind her rural Chilean home to work as a maid in Santiago. Isolated from her own family, Estela becomes the caretaker of a six-year-old girl in the wealthy household she now serves.

Day after day, night after night, Estela and the child create an intimate bond — one that evolves beyond routine caregiving into a secret, dependent world. But with every moment of closeness, the line between affection and obsession begins to blur, pulling them toward an outcome that feels as inevitable as the tide.

Inspired by Trabucco Zerán’s acclaimed novel, the film reflects on power, intimacy, and the fragile borders between freedom and entrapment.

🎬 Behind the Camera – The Team

Swim To Me brings together some of Chile’s most exciting creative voices:

• Director: Dominga Sotomayor (Too Late to Die Young)

• Writers: Gabriela Larralde, Dominga Sotomayor, Alia Trabucco Zerán

• Stars: Benjamin Westfall, María Paz Grandjean, Ignacia Baeza

Sotomayor has described the project as “a film about invisible bonds — the ones that sustain us, but also the ones that quietly suffocate.” With her delicate yet piercing visual style, viewers can expect a raw, atmospheric drama that lingers long after the credits roll.

🌟 Key Characters

• Estela – A young domestic worker whose move from rural Chile to Santiago sets her on an unexpected path of dependency and devotion.

• The Six-Year-Old Girl – Innocent yet perceptive, she forms a secret bond with Estela that will transform both of their lives.

• The Affluent Family – Figures in the background who represent privilege and distance, while never truly seeing the intensity of the world forming within their own household.

⚡ Why Audiences Are Intrigued

What sets Swim To Me apart is its raw exploration of intimacy in unequal relationships. Rather than focusing on grand melodrama, the film zooms in on the small, everyday rituals that slowly grow into something profound — and unsettling.

The story’s themes resonate far beyond Chile: class divides, the unseen labor of domestic workers, and the hidden emotional worlds forged in the shadows of families. It’s this universality, paired with Sotomayor’s poetic direction, that positions Swim To Me as one of the most anticipated international dramas on Netflix this fall.

📺 Streaming Details

• Title: Swim To Me

• Platform: Netflix (Worldwide)

• Release Date: October 10

• Country of Origin: Chile

🎤 Final Thoughts – A Current You Can’t Escape

Much like the waves of the sea, the relationship at the heart of Swim To Me builds slowly, quietly, until it becomes inescapable.

With its deeply human story, striking Chilean backdrop, and acclaimed creative team, Swim To Me promises to be one of Netflix’s most powerful and haunting dramas of the year.

The tide is coming in. 🌊 Don’t look away when it arrives on October 10.