Dark Waters review

DARK WATERS: 

TODD HAYNES AND MARK RUFFALO BRING TO THE SCREEN A CHILLING BUT ALSO FASCINATING AND POWERFUL REAL-LIFE STORY 20 YEARS IN THE MAKING! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

FOCUS FEATURES

Mark Ruffalo in Dark Waters

            An attorney links a series of mysterious deaths to one of the largest corporations in the world in Dark Waters, based on the 2016 New York Times article The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare by Nathaniel Rich. The film is directed by Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven, I’m Not There, Carol) and produced by and starring Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spotlight) as Robert Bilott, the attorney who engaged in a 20-year battle against DuPont for contaminating West Virginia’s drinking water with PFOA. 

            I’ll be the first to say that this could be a standalone sequel to the 2015 film Spotlight which also starred Ruffalo as a journalist who investigated the widespread of child sex abuse in Boston by numerous Roman Catholic priests. Well, now he’s an attorney taking down one of the most notorious chemical companies on the planet and apparently this war is still going on today. 

             Granted, I still consider Spotlight to be a little stronger in its narrative and pacing, Dark Waters is still pretty damn good and manages to blur the line between informing and scaring the viewer…it succeeds at both by the way. The film tells you everything you need to know about the situation (and at times they show you in very grotesque, horrific ways) and what everyone’s roles in the event are while still playing like a movie rather than a 2-hour history or science project. 

            The film follows attorney Robert Bilott (Ruffalo) who discovers a dark secret connected to a series of unexplained deaths caused by one of the largest corporations in the world, DuPont. He learns that they have knowingly been releasing perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA) into West Virginia’s water supply leading to increased levels of the compound within the bodies of the residents living in the surrounded area. 

            Determined to take DuPont down, Robert engages a 20-year legal battle against the company for their actions. In the process he risks everything he cares deeply such as his family, future, and his own life to expose the truth about DuPont and the contaminated water. 

            The film also stars Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises, Les Miserables (2012), Ocean’s 8) as Sarah Bilott, Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking, Mystic River) as Tom Terp, Bill Camp (Lincoln, 12 Years a Slave, Joker) as Wilbur Tennant, Victor Garber (Titanic, Alias, Argo) as Phil Donnelly, Mare Winningham (St. Elmo’s Fire, Philomena, The Seagull) as Darlene Kiger, Bill Pullman (Spaceballs, Sleepless in Seattle, Independence Day) as Harry Deitzler, William Jackson Harper (The Electric Company, The Good Place, Midsommar) as James Ross, and Louisa Krause (Martha Marcy May Marlene, My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea, Skin) as Karla.

            Overall, Dark Waters is a grim but fascinating reminder of a tragic incident from several years ago but is still relevant to this very day and honors the victims involved in it and puts the blame on those responsible. It’s the kind of movie you watch with other people and you talk about it afterwards because not only is it a shocking and fact-based story, but it makes you think, and I can guarantee some very interesting conversations will come out of this film. 

             There are some very suspenseful and disturbing moments in this movie almost like something out of a horror movie. Dogs and cows are acting strange and attacking people, kids with black teeth, and the film literally opens in 1975 in a scene reminiscent of the Steven Spielberg movie Jaws (So, that means Dark Waters is officially a prequel to Jaws), ironically this looks a lot scarier than the upcoming horror film The Turning which I got the trailer for prior to Dark Waters. 

            However, this is a very talkative, slow-burn movie and has more of a legal drama tone rather than a thriller. I recall the trailers showing the most disturbing aspects of the film but that isn’t the focus of the story, it’s on the attorney and the people around him trying their hardest to beat DuPont in this ongoing court battle and the impacts their actions have on the world. 

            The acting from Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway are phenomenal, Ruffalo portrays Robert as this ridiculously obsessed attorney determined to expose what DuPont has done and he sells every minute of it, as if his Spotlightcharacter took a whole bunch of steroids. Hathaway who you would expect to be reduced down to a secondary character as Robert’s wife has her moments to shine as well, she’s very supportive of her husband and his work even if he doesn’t always have time to be with the family and she’s basically Robert’s reminder that his work is important but his family is also just as important (if not more) when he gets too obsessed with cracking the case, in any other movie she would be downgraded to only a few lines and an acknowledgement that Robert has a wife and kids, but the script allows Hathaway to make just as big an impression as Ruffalo in a short amount of screen-time. 

            Dark Waters is an experience that must be seen to be believed, if you’re looking for a movie worth talking about that isn’t Joker, The Irishman, or Jojo Rabbit then this might be your flick. It has suspense, a fact-based story, and incredible performances by Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway holding it together, I guarantee you’ll never forget it long after the film ends.