Dark Water (2005) Dir: Walter Salles

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This 2005 supernatural thriller, directed by Walter Salles, is one of those random American horror films that has been sat on my Disney Plus watchlist for some time, waiting for a rainy day, so-to-speak. It has pretty mediocre reviews, but sometimes, when I just want something easy to watch, that really doesn't matter to me. I realised after I had already started it that it was in fact an American remake of a better-liked Japanese film from a few years earlier - stop me if you think you've heard this one before.

Visually speaking, the film was very grey and dark, but, if I'm being honest, I actually thought it was atmospherically quite effective. It was a little drab and dull, at points, but it was, at least, fairly consistent, and the building that played host to most of the story had a creepy vibe to it that certainly helped the wider feel of the film.

The story was basic, and the writing extremely clunky, but I still found myself at least fairly engaged for the majority of the film's runtime. It felt like a pretty standard supernatural horror narrative, and whilst the film didn't feel particularly unique, I've definitely seen some that were executed far worse. The ending was sad, but left me a little bit divided. Ultimately, I suppose, it worked for the story being told, but I do think it felt somewhat frustrating as an audience member.

Jennifer Connelly carried this film with all her might, and elevated its watchability substantially. It had been a while since I'd seen her act in anything, but I've always enjoyed her acting when I have seen her. I think she embodied a concerned and struggling mother very well, and was able to make the story feel a good deal more impactful than it would have done with a lesser actress in the role.

The supporting cast was a lot more star-studded than I anticipated, albeit none of the performances were overly impressive, by any means. The young Ariel Gade had a little bit of a mixed performance, but was, on the whole, fairly decent. She lost her way a little with some of the more challenging scenes, but not badly enough to ruin them, I would suggest. She had a good degree of on-screen chemistry with Connelly - I certainly could believe that they were mother and daughter, which is credit to both actors.

John C. Reilly gave a solid, but fairly unmemorable performance in his key supporting role, whilst Tim Roth would have benefitted greatly from sticking to his authentic accent, because the one he used was very unconvincing. Neither Dougray Scott or Pete Postlethwaite impressed me too much, although, Postlethwaite did have some good facial expressions and reactions to some of the more unnerving stimuli in the film.

Overall, I actually didn't think this was that bad, all things considered. The writing had its issues, and the visuals were a little dull, but it maintained a genuinely intriguing sense of mystery and suspense, which kept me engaged with it for the majority of its runtime. To that end, considering the fact that I actually enjoyed the film, at least to a fair degree, I am quite curious to find out how good the generally preferred Japanese original is.