Dark Water

2002 Directed by Hideo Nakata

Horror Marathon 2024 Day 13 Film 27

A mother and daughter move into an apartment while the mother fights for custody. At every turn she seems stymied by a society that wants to gaslight her reality. When she complains of a leak in the apartment the men around her just shrug until her lawyer (another man) makes mention of the mess. Her ex husband uses past trauma to make her seem crazy- and the film itself leaves some moments for the viewer to wonder if she's indeed going through psychological torment as she starts to see a girl from a missing persons poster keep popping up around the apartment complex. It's a film with an uneasy sense of environment and dread.

The apartment complex itself is a character, as the gloomy grey textures burrow into a your brain as a subconscious displeasure; its brutalist architecture doesn't offer any warmth or sense of home, and the constant drip looms larger as something that will eventually drown the entire space.

The film pacing is a bit slow, as most scenes seem to become repetitive with the mother running around anxious for where her daughter may be. Emotionally the ending feels authentic though- with the desolate situation finally brimming to a moment for their connection. The daughter's reaction is especially heartfelt in these moments- reflecting on the fragile and lonely space of childhood. It also works for reflecting on your own experiences with the relationships in your life too and how people grieve.