Dark Water (2005 film)
Encyclopedia
Dark Water is a 2005 American horror
-thriller film directed by Walter Salles
, starring Jennifer Connelly
and Tim Roth
. The film is a remake
of the 2002 Japanese film of the same name
, and also stars John C. Reilly
, Pete Postlethwaite
, Perla Haney-Jardine
and Ariel Gade
. The film is based on the short story Floating Water
from the horror anthology Honogurai mizu no soko kara
by Koji Suzuki
, author
of Ring
, which also had an American remake
.
The film was released on July 8, 2005 and grossed almost $50 million worldwide.
Flash forward to 2005, we see a grown-up Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly
) in the midst of a bitter mediation with ex-husband, Kyle (Dougray Scott
), over custody of their daughter, Cecilia (Ariel Gade
). Kyle wants Cecilia to live closer to his apartment in Jersey City, but Dahlia wants to move to Roosevelt Island
, where she has found a good school. Kyle threatens to sue for full custody because he feels the distance is too great. He also claims that Dahlia is "mentally unstable."
Dahlia and Cecilia see an apartment in a complex on Roosevelt Island
, which is just a few blocks from Cecilia's new school. The superintendent of the dilapidated building is Mr. Veeck (Pete Postlethwaite
). The manager is Mr. Murray (John C. Reilly
). During the tour, Cecilia sneaks to the roof where she finds a Hello Kitty
backpack near a large water tank. They leave the bag with Veeck, and Murray promises Cecilia that she can have it if no one claims it. Cecilia, who had disliked the apartment, now wants desperately to live there. Dahlia agrees to move in.
Shortly after, the bedroom ceiling begins to leak dark water. The source is the apartment above, 10F, where the Rimsky family lived up until a month ago. Dahlia enters 10F and finds it flooded, with dark water flowing from every faucet, the walls and toilet. She finds a family portrait of the former tenants--a mother, father, and a girl Cecilia's age. Dahlia complains to both Veeck and Murray about the water, but the former does little about it despite the insistence of the latter. Dahlia soon has dreams of a little girl who appears to be Cecilia returning from a visit to her father's home, but the girl's appearance changes every time Dahlia looks away, so that she looks like the girl in the portrait in 10F.
Cecilia has started school, but according to her new teacher (Camryn Manheim
), she isn’t fitting in and is spending too much time with an imaginary friend, named Natasha. A psychologist is recommended, but Dahlia declines and tells Cecilia to ignore Natasha. Although Veeck had said it was claimed, Dahlia discovers the Hello Kitty backpack in the laundry room's garbage. Cecilia later finds it in the elevator. The name in the backpack reads “Natasha Rimsky”.
The ceiling, shoddily patched by Veeck, leaks again. At school, Cecilia appears to get into a fight with Natasha, who appears to control her hand while painting. She's taken to the girls’ bathroom where she passes out after dark water gushes from the toilets and sinks. Dahlia, who is meeting with her lawyer, can’t be reached, so Kyle picks her up and takes her to his apartment.
Dahlia breaks down when she can’t find her daughter and has strange dreams. These lead her to the roof and up the ladder of the water tank where she finds Natasha’s body. When police arrive, they discover that Natasha's father thought she was with her mother, while the mother thought the girl was with her father. The girl was left alone in the abandoned apartment and fell into the water tank, which Veeck had left open. He was aware of her body, which was why he refused to fix the water problem plaguing the complex. Veeck is arrested and Murray is questioned.
Dahlia agrees to move closer to Kyle so shared custody will go easier. As Dahlia packs, Cecilia is taking a bath. A girl in a hooded bathrobe comes out of the bathroom, wanting Dahlia to read to her. When she hears voices in the bathroom, she realizes that the girl is Natasha. Natasha begs Dahlia not to leave her, but Dahlia rushes into the bathroom to save Cecilia. Natasha then locks Cecilia in the shower compartment and holds her underwater. Dahlia pleads with Natasha, promising to be her mother forever. Natasha lets Cecilia go and floods the apartment, causing Dahlia to drown. Her and Natasha's spirits are shown walking down the hallway.
Kyle picks up Cecilia from the police station. Weeks later, the two go back to pick up the rest of her stuff. Cecilia has a flashback of her and her mother looking at pictures together, and in the elevator, her mother's ghost braids her hair and comforts her—telling her she will always be there. Kyle, momentarily horrified with a malfunction in the elevator, the weird behavior of his daughter, and perhaps noticing her hair had been braided, finally takes her to his apartment in Jersey City.
.
full screen and includes the theatrical cut, which is PG-13 and runs 107 minutes. The other is in widescreen
(aspect ratio
2.35:1) and includes an unrated cut, which is actually shorter than the theatrical cut and runs at 103 minutes. Note that exact specifications vary by DVD region. There is also a PlayStation Portable
UMD
video version of the film.
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
-thriller film directed by Walter Salles
Walter Salles
Walter Moreira Salles, Jr. is a Brazilian filmmaker and film producer of international prominence.-Life and career:Salles was born in Rio de Janeiro. He is the son of Elizinha Goncalves and Walter Moreira Salles, a Brazilian banker and ambassador, and the brother of João Moreira Salles, also a...
, starring Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
and Tim Roth
Tim Roth
Simon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
. The film is a remake
Remake
A remake is a piece of media based primarily on an earlier work of the same medium.-Film:The term "remake" is generally used in reference to a movie which uses an earlier movie as the main source material, rather than in reference to a second, later movie based on the same source...
of the 2002 Japanese film of the same name
Dark Water (2002 film)
Dark Water is a 2002 Japanese drama-horror film directed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ring and Ring 2. Dark Water is based on Floating Water, a short story by Koji Suzuki. Its Japanese name is Honogurai mizu no soko kara , which is also the name of the horror anthology by Koji Suzuki...
, and also stars John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
, Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
, Perla Haney-Jardine
Perla Haney-Jardine
Perla Haney-Jardine is an Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill.-Personal life:...
and Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade is an American child actress from San Jose, California. She made her first acting appearance on an episode of television’s Strong Medicine, and followed this with a performance in Barry Levinson’s Envy .-Career:...
. The film is based on the short story Floating Water
Dark Water (book)
Dark Water is the English title of a collection of short stories by Koji Suzuki, originally published in Japan as Honogurai mizu no soko kara . The book was first published in 1996, and released in 2004 in English translation...
from the horror anthology Honogurai mizu no soko kara
Dark Water (book)
Dark Water is the English title of a collection of short stories by Koji Suzuki, originally published in Japan as Honogurai mizu no soko kara . The book was first published in 1996, and released in 2004 in English translation...
by Koji Suzuki
Koji Suzuki
Koji Suzuki is a Japanese writer, who was born in Hamamatsu and currently lives in Tokyo. Suzuki is the author of the Ring cycle of novels, which has been adapted into a manga series. He has written several books on the subject of fatherhood...
, author
Ring (Suzuki novel)
is a Japanese horror novel by Koji Suzuki, first published in 1991, and set in modern day Japan. It was the basis for a film of the same name , and two remakes: a Korean version and an American version ....
of Ring
Ring (film)
is a 1998 Japanese horror film by Hideo Nakata, adapted from the novel Ring by Kōji Suzuki, which in turn draws on the Japanese folk tale Banchō Sarayashiki. The film stars Nanako Matsushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Rikiya Ōtaka as members of a divorced family...
, which also had an American remake
The Ring (2002 film)
The Ring is a 2002 American psychological horror film directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Naomi Watts and Martin Henderson. It is a remake of the 1998 Japanese horror film Ring....
.
The film was released on July 8, 2005 and grossed almost $50 million worldwide.
Plot
The film opens in 1974, as a young girl, Dahlia, stands outside after school in the rain, waiting for her mother.Flash forward to 2005, we see a grown-up Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
) in the midst of a bitter mediation with ex-husband, Kyle (Dougray Scott
Dougray Scott
-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
), over custody of their daughter, Cecilia (Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade
Ariel Gade is an American child actress from San Jose, California. She made her first acting appearance on an episode of television’s Strong Medicine, and followed this with a performance in Barry Levinson’s Envy .-Career:...
). Kyle wants Cecilia to live closer to his apartment in Jersey City, but Dahlia wants to move to Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
, where she has found a good school. Kyle threatens to sue for full custody because he feels the distance is too great. He also claims that Dahlia is "mentally unstable."
Dahlia and Cecilia see an apartment in a complex on Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island
Roosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
, which is just a few blocks from Cecilia's new school. The superintendent of the dilapidated building is Mr. Veeck (Pete Postlethwaite
Pete Postlethwaite
Peter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
). The manager is Mr. Murray (John C. Reilly
John C. Reilly
John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
). During the tour, Cecilia sneaks to the roof where she finds a Hello Kitty
Hello Kitty
is a fictional character produced by the Japanese company Sanrio, first designed by Yuko Shimizu. She is portrayed as a female white Japanese bobtail cat with a red bow. The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States...
backpack near a large water tank. They leave the bag with Veeck, and Murray promises Cecilia that she can have it if no one claims it. Cecilia, who had disliked the apartment, now wants desperately to live there. Dahlia agrees to move in.
Shortly after, the bedroom ceiling begins to leak dark water. The source is the apartment above, 10F, where the Rimsky family lived up until a month ago. Dahlia enters 10F and finds it flooded, with dark water flowing from every faucet, the walls and toilet. She finds a family portrait of the former tenants--a mother, father, and a girl Cecilia's age. Dahlia complains to both Veeck and Murray about the water, but the former does little about it despite the insistence of the latter. Dahlia soon has dreams of a little girl who appears to be Cecilia returning from a visit to her father's home, but the girl's appearance changes every time Dahlia looks away, so that she looks like the girl in the portrait in 10F.
Cecilia has started school, but according to her new teacher (Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim
Camryn Manheim is an American actress known primarily for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's The Practice and Delia Banks on CBS's Ghost Whisperer and as Elvis's mother, Gladys Presley in the 2005 mini-series Elvis....
), she isn’t fitting in and is spending too much time with an imaginary friend, named Natasha. A psychologist is recommended, but Dahlia declines and tells Cecilia to ignore Natasha. Although Veeck had said it was claimed, Dahlia discovers the Hello Kitty backpack in the laundry room's garbage. Cecilia later finds it in the elevator. The name in the backpack reads “Natasha Rimsky”.
The ceiling, shoddily patched by Veeck, leaks again. At school, Cecilia appears to get into a fight with Natasha, who appears to control her hand while painting. She's taken to the girls’ bathroom where she passes out after dark water gushes from the toilets and sinks. Dahlia, who is meeting with her lawyer, can’t be reached, so Kyle picks her up and takes her to his apartment.
Dahlia breaks down when she can’t find her daughter and has strange dreams. These lead her to the roof and up the ladder of the water tank where she finds Natasha’s body. When police arrive, they discover that Natasha's father thought she was with her mother, while the mother thought the girl was with her father. The girl was left alone in the abandoned apartment and fell into the water tank, which Veeck had left open. He was aware of her body, which was why he refused to fix the water problem plaguing the complex. Veeck is arrested and Murray is questioned.
Dahlia agrees to move closer to Kyle so shared custody will go easier. As Dahlia packs, Cecilia is taking a bath. A girl in a hooded bathrobe comes out of the bathroom, wanting Dahlia to read to her. When she hears voices in the bathroom, she realizes that the girl is Natasha. Natasha begs Dahlia not to leave her, but Dahlia rushes into the bathroom to save Cecilia. Natasha then locks Cecilia in the shower compartment and holds her underwater. Dahlia pleads with Natasha, promising to be her mother forever. Natasha lets Cecilia go and floods the apartment, causing Dahlia to drown. Her and Natasha's spirits are shown walking down the hallway.
Kyle picks up Cecilia from the police station. Weeks later, the two go back to pick up the rest of her stuff. Cecilia has a flashback of her and her mother looking at pictures together, and in the elevator, her mother's ghost braids her hair and comforts her—telling her she will always be there. Kyle, momentarily horrified with a malfunction in the elevator, the weird behavior of his daughter, and perhaps noticing her hair had been braided, finally takes her to his apartment in Jersey City.
Cast
- Jennifer ConnellyJennifer ConnellyJennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
as Dahlia Williams - Tim RothTim RothSimon Timothy "Tim" Roth is an English film actor and director best known for his roles in the American films,Legend of 1900, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Skellig, Planet of the Apes, The Incredible Hulk and Rob Roy, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for...
as Jeff Platzer - John C. ReillyJohn C. ReillyJohn Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...
as Mr. Murray - Ariel GadeAriel GadeAriel Gade is an American child actress from San Jose, California. She made her first acting appearance on an episode of television’s Strong Medicine, and followed this with a performance in Barry Levinson’s Envy .-Career:...
as Cecilia "Ceci" Williams - Perla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-JardinePerla Haney-Jardine is an Brazilian-born American actress. She is best known for her role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as B.B., the four-year-old daughter of Beatrix "The Bride" Kiddo and Bill.-Personal life:...
as Natasha Rimsky/Young Dahlia - Dougray ScottDougray Scott-Early life:The son of Elma, a nurse, and Alan Scott, an actor and salesperson, Stephen Dougray Scott was born in Glenrothes, Fife and attended Auchmuty High School...
as Kyle Williams - Pete PostlethwaitePete PostlethwaitePeter William "Pete" Postlethwaite, OBE, was an English stage, film and television actor.After minor television appearances including in The Professionals, Postlethwaite's first success came with the film Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988. He played a mysterious lawyer, Mr...
as Mr. Veeck - Camryn ManheimCamryn ManheimCamryn Manheim is an American actress known primarily for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's The Practice and Delia Banks on CBS's Ghost Whisperer and as Elvis's mother, Gladys Presley in the 2005 mini-series Elvis....
as Ceci's Teacher - Debra Monk as Young Dahlia's Teacher
- Elina LöwensohnElina LöwensohnElina Löwensohn is a Romanian-born American actress.-Biography:Löwensohn was born in Bucharest, Romania. After the death of her father, a survivor of Nazi concentration camps, her mother emigrated to the United States with her, where her mother went on a hunger strike in order to get a visa for...
as Dahlia's Mother - Zoe Heath as Natasha's Mother
- Matthew Lemche as Steve
- Edward Kennington as Billy
Reception
Reviews of the film are mixed. It currently holds a 46% "Rotten" rating at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Home media
Dark Water is available on DVD, in two releases. One release is in pan and scanPan and scan
Pan and scan is a method of adjusting widescreen film images so that they can be shown within the proportions of a standard definition 4:3 aspect ratio television screen, often cropping off the sides of the original widescreen image to focus on the composition's most important aspects...
full screen and includes the theatrical cut, which is PG-13 and runs 107 minutes. The other is in widescreen
Widescreen
Widescreen images are a variety of aspect ratios used in film, television and computer screens. In film, a widescreen film is any film image with a width-to-height aspect ratio greater than the standard 1.37:1 Academy aspect ratio provided by 35mm film....
(aspect ratio
Aspect ratio (image)
The aspect ratio of an image is the ratio of the width of the image to its height, expressed as two numbers separated by a colon. That is, for an x:y aspect ratio, no matter how big or small the image is, if the width is divided into x units of equal length and the height is measured using this...
2.35:1) and includes an unrated cut, which is actually shorter than the theatrical cut and runs at 103 minutes. Note that exact specifications vary by DVD region. There is also a PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
UMD
Universal Media Disc
The Universal Media Disc is an optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on their PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform...
video version of the film.