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There's no telling what one might find in these dark waters

The entire cast, including Tim Roth as a genial lawyer and Camryn Manheim as Ceci's concerned teacher, turns in fine work. Composer Angelo Badalamenti, a veteran of David Lynch films, turns in a moving score. And cinematographer Affonso Beato finds startling visuals in some of the most drab and humdrum of environments. (Check out the tram ride to Roosevelt Island or the rattling laundry machines in Dahlia's apartment building.) But the film doesn't quite wrap things up in a satisfying way; while the pipes are clean and the faucet runs quite smoothly, it ultimately feels like water down the drain.

Talk About It

1. Do you think Dahlia has dealt with the psychological wounds of her childhood? How do you think she should deal with them? Do you think Ceci will have to deal with any?
   
   
2. How do you see these characters learning from their wounds? Do they perpetuate the problems of their parents? Do they treat their children better?
   
   
3. Dahlia insinuates that Kyle does not love their daughter. Do you think she has a point? Do you think she was speaking out of bitterness? What does his behavior indicate? Do you think Ceci's parents still love each other, in any way?
   
   
4. What does this film say about bureaucracy? Note how often characters refer to the forms that need to be filled out, or to union regulations. What good do these things do? What harm do they do?
   
   
5. How would you compare this film to other recent remakes of Japanese horror films, such as The Ring and The Grudge? How would you compare the ghost in this one to the ghosts of those films? Is it more vengeful? Less? Is it more capable of finding healing? Less? Is the film as a whole more hopeful, or less?
   
   

The Family Corner

Dark Water is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, frightening sequences, disturbing images and brief language, including one or two names spoken in vain.

Photos © Copyright Touchstone Pictures

© Peter T. Chattaway 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind), playing a troubled single mother named Dahlia, guides us through a nerve-wracking remake of a Japanese horror flick, Dark Water. Directed by Walter Salles, who brought us 2004's powerful The Motorcycle Diaries, the film also features talented actors like John C. Reilly and Tim Roth. It follows the nightmarish experience of Dahlia and her daughter as they find out their new home is full of spooky surprises. What results is a troubling exploration of parental neglect and its consequences.

David DiCerto (Catholic News Service) calls it "a stylish and smartly crafted psychological thriller that is both sophisticated and suspenseful." He explains that the film is really about "a mother-daughter relationship. It also explores themes of isolation, abandonment and parental anxiety. The film's symbolic use of water should resonate with Christians; only here it is not a sacramental signifier of grace and cleansing, but—black and ominous—a metaphor for madness, sin and despair."

Caroline Mooney (Christian Spotlight) says, "I loved it—not just the story, but the actual mechanics of the film, the way it was made. The film drew me in. … I enjoyed it thoroughly. But when I sit back and think about the content as a professing Christian, I do have some problems with the language, the use of drugs, and the overall idea of life after death … at least as a ghost."

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