message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

           
Dark Water   Rated PG-13
Directed by Walter Salles. Starring Jennifer Connelly, Ariel Gade



Photo © Copyright Touchstone Pictures
Dahlia Williams is in the process of divorcing her husband and needs to find an affordable place near a good school for herself and her 5-year-old daughter Ceci.  She hears about an available tenement apartment on Roosevelt Island (just a tram ride away from Manhattan) that is not far from a good elementary school. She soon discovers that it is a dark, dank, dreary place indeed.  But the rent is affordable and the landlord promises that “a couple coats of paint” will brighten up the place considerably.  As the two settle into the place, things become curiouser and curiouser. Both of them notice a mysterious stain on the bedroom ceiling. Dahlia has visions of dark, fetid water. Cece discovers an imaginary friend.  Dark Water is a slow-paced, quiet thriller that places dread in the ordinary places of everyday life and gives us a loving mother who is trying to make the right choices for herself and her daughter, while her world is starting to come apart.  Connelly is outstanding as the mother, and the entire cast is first-rate with a very funny performance by John C. Reilly as the upbeat slumlord.  World-class Brazilian director (and former cinematographer) Salles has picked a strange project for his first English language film; Dark Water is a remake of a Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata (who also created “The Ring” films).  For what it is, it is pretty entertaining.  I have a few minor quibbles: The apartment complex seems to be populated by only a handful of people and I had a hard time believing that such a poor neighborhood could have such a great school.  Dark Water is no masterpiece, but it is masterfully done.

Pitchfork Rating: Three halos. (A stylish horror film with positive themes of family and redemptive sacrifice.)  One pitchfork.  (A stylish horror film with positive themes of family and redemptive sacrifice.) 

 

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