LM23 Rating: Maybe there’s a reason why scary movies are always in big houses and not apartments
So after the disappointment of The Night House, Disney+ recommended me this movie called Dark Water starring Jennifer Connelly. I had never heard of the movie before, but it was released back in 2005. I could related a tiny bit to how the movie started as we’re introduced to Dahlia (Connelly) who is recently divorced from her husband Kyle (Dougray Scott). They’re working out living arrangements and Kyle found a one-bedroom in Jersey City, but Dahlia was seeking a place in Roosevelt Island as there’s a good school there for their young daughter, Ceci.
What caught me in this first act was how now single mother Dahlia is forced to seek an affordable place for her and her daughter. She’s gone to look at a unit in an obviously run down and neglected building which its chipper, used car salesman-ish building owner is trying so hard to gloss over. Oh, we’re going to repaint these halls and everything is going to be bright. Oh, there’s a leak in the elevator, I’ll call the plumber right away. John C. Reilly who plays the building owner or manager, Mr. Murray, is able to play this scammer in a borderline human way. It’s like in a way you trust him because it’s obvious the building is run down, but there’s not much to be done with that. But, you can play up the fact that it’s in a family friendly area and you can’t get much better than $800 a month for this.
This reminded me of when I moved to Toronto in 2005 and I lucked out in that a friend of mine introduced me to a property that was professionally managed and in the middle of an affluent area in Toronto. I also paid $800 a month for my first apartment, but it was bright and in working order. There were professional maintenance staff on duty all hours of the day and a tenant association and laws to protect me. I also was lucky to not have to struggle in that I didn’t have to live in the first grungy but affordable apartment that was available to me. When I see people who are parents or older having to settle for a not so great place because it’s all they can afford, it’s very sad and so unfair. In this case, Dahlia is a single mother and she not only has to think of herself, but for her daughter.
There’s nothing wrong with apartment living, but it’s kind of worrisome to mix a close living quarter with a bunch of strangers with unknown backgrounds with children. I used to feel really weird being in the elevator and seeing little kids with me, but I’d be protective of them and I’d watch other people if the kids were by themselves. I’d start to think about the maintenance staff and other people living in the building and wonder if they were to be trusted around little kids. And as a single woman, I was on guard for my own safety even though it was a pretty much family friendly building. I always said that if you’re looking for a place to live, look for old people and kids and you should be good.
There’s a scare right away during the apartment viewing when Ceci goes missing (of course). They find her on the roof the apartment where she somehow was able to access. There’s a water tank on the roof along with a bright pink Hello Kitty backpack.
Now, the entire movie is dark and wet. It’s literally the title of the movie, Dark Water. It’s always raining. It’s always a cloudy day. The buildings are all dreary and drab in color. The hot pink backpack is the only spark of real color throughout the entire film.
Dahlia is understandably upset and calls Mr. Murray negligent despite Mr. Murray’s insistence that the door is supposed to be locked. They go downstairs to confront the day time building superintendent, Mr. Veeck (Postlethwaite) about why the door was left unlocked. Mr. Veeck sits behind a cage like office and isn’t the most friendly even when Mr. Murray comes to introduce the new tenants to him. This I thought was odd as I have never seen such a set up before. Most buildings I’ve seen and in the one I lived in, the administrative offices are tucked away in first floor suites. The maintenance people are also always on the go and working. You rarely see them just sitting the way Mr. Veeck did in the movie.
Anyway, Mr. Veeck is certain the door was locked, but he can’t explain why it was opened. Ceci wants to keep the backpack, but Dahlia insists they leave it with Mr. Veek in case its rightful owner returns. Mr. Veeck is oddly gruff with Ceci and doesn’t like that the little girl wants to keep the bag and then the doll that was found in the bag. Mr. Murray agrees to a compromise that if in a week the owner doesn’t come, then Ceci can have it.
Strange things begin to occur when Dahlia and Ceci lay down to sleep as they notice water dripping from Ceci’s bedroom ceiling. Dahlia decides to take care of it in the morning as it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Oh but wait, it is.
Dahlia soon realizes that getting maintenance help is near impossible. Mr. Veeck claims he’s not a plumber, which he isn’t, and can’t help her. She calls Mr. Murray who is out gambling at the horse races or eating in the comfort of his office, but he doesn’t seem to care. This part angered me in terms of the unfairness and inequity. We see how a woman who is paying $800 a month to live in a unit is not getting the help she needs. She trusts too much in Mr. Murray’s assurances that he will get the problem fixed, but we know Mr. Murray is just buying time because he knows that type of a fix would require a massive renovation.
Just before I moved out of Toronto, I experienced a bizarre plumbing issue in the kitchen sink. Water was coming out of the sink and rising similar to the movie. And at one point, black water came gushing out of the sink while the building manager and the plumber were attempting to diagnose the issue. This happened a lot in the movie.
Whenever dark water starts gushing out of sinks and pipes in the movie, it’s our sign that the ghost is here. For me, it was a clogged pipe issue in a unit below me that was causing the water to come through my sink. I also learned then that the maintenance staff on site were not plumbers and they did not fix these types of problems. They called the plumber to come to fix the issue. So when Mr. Veeck is saying he’s not a plumber, he is correct. The most he can do is help clean up, but he would be the one to contact the plumber.
What was bizarre with the leaking from the ceiling was that it seemed to be accompanies with black mold that grew and grew. Fed up with the leaking, Dahlia one day decides to walk up a floor to see what was going on with the unit above hers. The door is opened and she discovers flooding all throughout the apartment. This is where I find it impossible as there’s no way two feet of standing water would be possible in an apartment. There’s too many vents and drains and places for water to be relieved from.
We see a picture of a family of three, a mom, dad, and a young girl who looks just like Ceci hanging on the wall. Already we probably realize that the little girl is the rightful owner of the backpack. And she’s most likely the source of the ghostly incidents we’re going to see.
We hear whispers in the dark. There’s a lot of water dripping and spilling everywhere. We’re told the parents and the little girl, Natasha, in 10F, left the apartment one day. Oh but wait, we’re also told that Ceci has been talking to an invisible friend at school who is also named Natasha.
There’s not a lot of detective work to be done to figure out who’s haunting Dahlia and Ceci. But we are thrown off a little bit by Dahlia encountering the ghost of what appears to be her negligent mom up in 10F. Dahlia takes medication for migraine headaches which causes her to lose track of time. In-between the hauntings, Dahlia also has to deal with the divorce proceedings with her husband and her lawyer played by Roth.
The lawyer ends up doing some actual detective work as he has Mr. Murray open Dahlia’s apartment after she misses their meeting. He sees the moldy, dripping mess of her ceiling and starts throwing around rights and laws in front of Mr. Murray who promises to have things all fixed. The lawyer also discovers that the parents of Natasha had left without their daughter. The mom disappeared somewhere and the dad is living with his mom.
The police are later seen up at the water tower where Natasha’s body is found. Mr. Veeck for some reason is arrested and it looks like that’s the end of the haunting. But the movie isn’t over, so it looks like we’ve been faked out. Dahlia is on the phone and makes mention of how they’ll be moving out of the apartment in a week and that’s another scary movie no, no in that once you sense something is not right, you leave ASAP! Why in the world would you stick around a place that has been haunted and leaking with water and mold anyway?
In one of the few very scary moments, as Dahlia is on the phone, Ceci is in the bathtub with the sliding glass doors shut. Now, whoever invented the sliding glass door to enclose a bath was not thinking of safety or even space. Who would ever want to be enclosed with a water source? Natasha’s spirit is still hanging around and she appears in the living room with her face obscured by the hood of the bathrobe. She sits on the couch as Dahlia begins to read a book to her. But Dahlia soon realizes that the little girl is not hers.
Poor Ceci is being drowned by Natasha and Dahlia isn’t strong enough to break open the glass door. Of course she isn’t. We need more stronger and tougher female protagonists like Laurie Strode who know how to pick up a weapon and break things. Anyways…I’ve digressed..Dahlia makes a deal to be with Natasha forever in exchange for Ceci’s life.
The movie ends with Ceci and her dad packing up her things from the apartment. But as they are about to leave, Ceci stays behind in the elevator which has a puddle of water in it. Dahlia’s spirit says goodbye to Ceci and she walks off hand in hand with Natasha.
Dark Water is another movie that surprisingly has many well-known actors in it. In addition to Jennifer Connelly and Dougray Scott, John C. Reilly, Tim Roth, Pete Postlethwaite, and Camryn Manheim all appear. The movie is based on a Japanese film, but I’m guessing the original is probably a thousand times scarier.
The movie begins with a lot of promise, but it doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s too easy to figure out who’s haunting Dahlia and Ceci. But it’s also hard to believe that an apartment building in New York City would be so quiet and clear of people in the halls or laundry room. Not much is known about what happened to Natasha though it’s implied that she died in an accident. Why her parents didn’t bother with her disappearance is also unknown and strange. If a child is missing, you’d think there would be missing posters all over the building or something.
The flashback to Dahlia’s childhood with her mother who abandoned her also didn’t make much sense. Perhaps it’s supposed to be the reason why Natasha’s spirit may be wanting to attach itself to her.
Another disappointment.
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