Susan Granger’s review of “Dark Water” (Touchstone Pictures)
“Ghost stories deal with one’s fear of the unknown – and the fear of the other,” says Brazilian filmmaker Walter Salles, recalling that Stanley Kubrick once said: if we are afraid of ghosts, it’s because we accept the possibility that there is more than just oblivion waiting beyond the grave. This particular ghost story revolves around the relationship between a mother and child, touching on universal issues of abandonment and urban solitude. Its supernatural terror lies more in what is not revealed than what is shown, thereby igniting the viewer’s imagination. The menacing mystery begins inside Apartment 9F in a dilapidated housing complex on New York City’s Roosevelt Island. Escaping from a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband (Dougray Scott), a psychologically fragile but fiercely protective single mother Dahlia Williams (Jennifer Connelly) is trying to build a new life with her brave five year-old daughter Ceci (Ariel Gade) who has discovered a ghostly new “friend” (Perla Haney-Jardine) she can talk to. Problem is: there’s this brackish water dripping from the ceiling from Apt. 10F. And no one helps – not the real estate broker (John C. Reilly), the janitor (Pete Postlethwaite) nor her lawyer (Tim Roth). Based on a story by Koji Suzuki and Japanese film by Hideo Nakata (“The Ring”), writer Rafael Yglesias (“Fearless”) and director Walter Salles (“The Motorcycle Diaries,” “Central Station”) cleverly manipulate memories and malevolence to create suspense for the ominous jeopardy – and the casting is superb. (Trivia note: a color dye usually used in concentrated gels for soft drinks was added to the water to make it the dark color.) On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Dark Water” is a creepy, chilling, complex 8. Bottom line: it’s a very scary movie.
