Dark Water (2005)

A mother and daughter, still wounded from a bitter custody dispute, hole up in a run-down apartment building. Adding further drama to their plight, they are targeted by the ghost of former resident.

Director:

Walter Salles

Writers:

Kôji Suzuki (novel), Hideo Nakata (film Honogurai mizu no soko kara),

Stars:

Jennifer Connelly, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Connelly	...	Dahlia
John C. Reilly	...	Mr. Murray
Tim Roth	...	Jeff Platzer
Dougray Scott	...	Kyle
Pete Postlethwaite	...	Veeck
Camryn Manheim	...	Teacher
Ariel Gade	...	Ceci
Perla Haney-Jardine	...	Natasha / Young Dahlia
Debra Monk	...	Young Dahlia's Teacher
Linda Emond	...	Mediator
Bill Buell	...	Mediator
J.R. Horne	...	Man in Train
Elina Löwensohn	...	Dahlia's Mother
Warren Belle	...	UPS Man
Alison Sealy-Smith	...	Supervisor

Storyline

Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. She is currently in the midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in the only bedroom. There are also noises coming from the apartment directly above hers, though it would appear to be vacant. Is the apartment haunted or is there a simpler explanation?

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Plot Keywords:

apartment | water | school | apartment building | hello kitty | 

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Taglines:

This Season, The Mystery Of The Darkness Will Consume Your Life

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, frightening sequences, disturbing images and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Touchstone Pictures [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 July 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Agua turbia

Filming Locations:

Chandler Valley Center Studios - 13927 Saticoy Street, Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$436,582 (Germany) (23 September 2005)

Gross:

$25,472,967 (USA) (7 October 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Pandemonium Productions, Vertigo Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min 103 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The heartbeat heard during Dahlia's migraines are from an ultrasound scan of Daniel Rezende's wife who got pregnant at the beginning of the shooting.

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Goofs

Near the end of the movie, a paramedic is heard giving Dahlia's age as 30. However, in the opening scene, Dahlia is seen as a girl of at least five or six in 1974. Thirty-one years later in 2005, she'd be at least 36.

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Quotes

Mr. Murray: The bathroom's pretty much self-explanatory.

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Connections

Featured in Late Show with David Letterman: Jennifer Connelly/Eels (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Electrified"
Written by Mike Gallagher and Marc Ferrari
Performed by Mike Gallagher
Courtesy of Marc Ferrari/MasterSource

User Reviews

Excellent piece of psychological work

I'm at a loss to describe why so many people here have panned this movie. I can only suppose that those who didn't like it went to see this expecting a horror movie. And since no monsters jumped out and hacked people to death, I imagine teenagers (apparently the main demographic that posts here) were bored to death with it. They couldn't understand why there wasn't a mutilated corpse every half step. Their A.D.D.-addled brains couldn't sit still long enough to decipher the complex plot points or to appreciate good character-building (something sorely lacking from movies nowadays.) Comparing this movie to "The Ring" is like comparing "Godfather" to "Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer." The movies are in two completely separate genres.

I blame the marketing department. The promos did make it look like a fright-fest. One might have expected ghosts to be flying around the room a la "Poltergeist." I suppose they must have assumed that those of us who like movies that actually engage us and make us think weren't a very big market. Instead, they chose to market it to the "slasher movie" ilk, and they, being simplistic, got headaches trying to sift through an actual PLOT. Then they went home to listen to their Korn CDs and smoke pot.

Anyway, that being said, I approached the movie with all the preconceptions I just mentioned. And if you do have those preconceptions and are unwilling to give them up, the movie will drag on mercilessly for you. However, I switched modes quite easily, and became intrigued with the plot. It led me one way and then another, every time giving me something new to think about.

Nobody can criticize the acting here, either. Jennifer Connelly is superb as always, but the young daughter is quite skilled as well, and I expect to see her more often in the future.

I won't get into specifics, but the ending is something I really wasn't looking for.

As I left the theater, all the adults (most of whom didn't know each other) were talking about what a great movie it was as we filed out the doors. The teenagers in the theater were too busy making out to notice the credits rolling.

View if you're mature. If you're not, save yourself the brain-strain and go rent "Seed of Chucky" and leave the grown folks alone.