DARK WATERS might be the scariest movie of the year. It tells the story of corruption, and what some people are willing to do to make money. The chilling thing about it is that it’s based on a true story. If that’s not your thing, that’s fine. But something about this really stood out to me as one of the most memorable of the year. I couldn’t believe it was actually telling the story I was seeing.
It almost has the feeling of one of those movies like THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE. Even the movie itself feels like a secret, if that makes sense. It’s all so very purposely low-key. Todd Haynes makes the choice throughout the movie to keep things quietly creepy (the overall vibe of Fincher’s ZODIAC comes to mind). Or maybe even something like INHERENT VICE, without the humour. It has an unsettling, film noir feeling. During the particularly incendiary scenes, the vibe didn’t feel like “HEY LOOK AT THIS!” to me. Things happen like they would in real life, because it really did happen this way! You don’t get the sense Haynes is exaggerating any of this for the sake of the film at all.
In a way, a movie like this is a miracle. It isn’t just a dumb Hollywood release: this thing is dark as hell. It exposes how far corporations will go to make money, and it’s so bleak. After watching this I actually felt, “Todd Haynes could get murdered for making this.” There are probably some very powerful people out there who will hate it for what it illustrates. There’s some EYES WIDE SHUT shit here I will never forget. For instance: the look of an actor’s face when the extent of what he did to his fellow man is revealed and has a very powerful effect.
Something I really enjoyed: how much time is covered throughout. The film covers just over a decade, and I thought it told all necessary info really well without falling into movies like this normally would. For example: even Anne Hathaway’s character is given a pretty substantial role. In a movie like THE FOUNDER the “wife character” is reduced to a really boring archetype, and poor Laura Dern had nothing really cool to do. In DARK WATERS, we really fully see how uncovering this conspiracy/dark truth of the world messes with the main character’s head. It affects his home life, his mental health, etc……
Before I forget to mention it: Bill Camp is a great actor, and he’s given the opportunity to do a lot here! At first you might laugh at how he goes for the voice, but after a certain point it felt like a real guy to me. (It was very cool to see him in a good movie in an actual theatre; I think of him as a TV actor a lot due to DEADWOOD).
The last thing I’ll say about this great movie: I love the ending. Not many movies could pull off such a downer of an ending and not have the audience go “fuck that movie” after. Haynes portrays a horrible world, but I really enjoyed the fact that they quickly remind us at the end: people like Robert Bilott exist in the world. Even though he’s just one guy, he actually made a huge dent in this massive corporation’s plans. At one point, Bill Camp’s character says something like, “I’m still here. That’s something.” It’s a perfect way to think about Ruffalo’s character/the real life lawyer Robert Bilott: he actually kinda made a difference! We would never have this movie if one dude didn’t stand up for what was right, and that means something.