‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ is a Remarkably Heartwarming Film About Loss and Healing
If you’ve stumbled into any Barnes & Noble or browsed Goodreads in the past few years, you’ve likely seen a book with an octopus on the cover called “Remarkably Bright Creatures.” Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel began as a modest publishing success before spreading by word-of-mouth like wildfire. It has sold over two million copies in four years and garnered enough praise to get a film adaptation for Netflix. Olivia Newman directs the film, who is no stranger to directing book adaptations, as she directed “Where the Crawdads Sing.” The popularity of a novel doesn’t necessarily guarantee its success on the big screen. However, “Remarkably Bright Creatures”‘ unique story with lovable characters and surprisingly challenging themes translates well to film.
“Remarkably Bright Creatures” opens with an internal monologue from an octopus named Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina). While the octopus never communicates directly with the humans in the story, his observational intelligence gives the audience a unique lens to view the main characters of the story. Marcellus says that of all the humans in the aquarium, his favorite is Tova, the cleaning lady (Sally Field). Tova was recently widowed and has isolated herself in her grief, only sharing her feelings and struggles with Marcellus as she cleans the aquarium every night. Tova tells him of her struggles with losing her son, and with her husband gone she is considering moving to a retirement community. The story takes a turn when Tova has a minor injury and needs help cleaning the aquarium.
Cameron (Lewis Pullman) is a disheveled young man passing through town, searching for his father after his mother recently died. When his van breaks down, Cameron takes a temporary job as a cleaner at the local aquarium to pay for the repairs. However, what Cameron thinks will be a low-effort way to earn cash ends up being much more than he anticipated. Tova insists on helping Cameron see the right and the wrong way of doing things. As the two start working together, a friendship blossoms. Marcellus, the observant octopus nearing the end of his life, sees that these two cleaners have holes in their hearts from their losses and he wishes he could help them in some way.
