Dark Water

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Dark Water

PG-13

2002

1h 40m

Horror

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84%

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19 Reviews

66%

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10,000+ Ratings

In this moody Japanese horror film, newly-single mom Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki) is enduring a bitter divorce and struggling to keep custody of her young daughter, Ikuko (Rio Kanno). As the unstable Yoshimi tries to make a fresh start in a new apartment, strange occurrences in the building gradually begin to take their toll. When Yoshimi and Ikuko both start seeing unsettling visions of a ghostly little girl, it's clear that they're being drawn toward the supernatural.

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Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

Suffused with a haunting mood of melancholy, Nakata Hideo’s J-horror classic Dark Water examines recurrent cycles of familial and institutional negligence.

Apr 7, 2024

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Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

Its cleverness relies on transferring our concern from the supernatural events emanating from one lost child to the natural fear of a mother losing her own child to the other world.

Jan 10, 2018

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Barbara Ellen

Times (UK)

It's flawed, but you should see Dark Water, a decent little chiller that brings a whole new meaning to rising damp.

Jan 3, 2018

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Wael Khairy

The Cinephile Fix

...the real horror in Dark Water has nothing to do with the ghost, and everything to do with losing one’s own parent or child.

Mar 4, 2024

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Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

It checks all the boxes in my opinion.

Rated: 7/10

Jun 2, 2021

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Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

Benefits from having an undercurrent of sadness, which makes it feel quite similar to the ghost stories in Kwaidan.

Rated: 7/10

Jul 7, 2005

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Felix G

Such an underrated movie, perfect Hideo Nakata ambientation style, beautiful story and deep like water. The problem... the ending as awlays. Hideo Nakata really had a problem when making endings as he always tried to make them espectacular and always forgot how to make good ending to his story. If the ending was like the one in the book, it would have been PERFECT. Really... I do not know why Hideo Nakata loves doing bad endings like he hated his characters. I love him and hate him so much at the same time, lol.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/25

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Chris T

Wow I was not expecting that. I like endings kind of similar to Titanic where it’s a sad story but love prevails at the end even in the darkest times.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

06/17/24

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Kuro

One of my favourite horror movies ever. The atmosphere kept me on the edge of my seat and it doesn't need jumpscares to make it scary. Very solid perfomances actorwise and so much better than the American remake.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

10/31/23

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Alfie M

Creepy yet sad film proves that less scares are better than a lot

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/16/23

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Leonard E

Not scary at all in the slightest. No horror just strange things happen. A disappointment nonetheless

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

07/20/23

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Will G. F

This movie accomplished what rings couldn't, exploring the mother daughter bond.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

04/29/23

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Hideo Nakata

Director

Hitomi Kuroki

Yoshimi Matsubara

Rio Kanno

Ikuko Matsubara

Mirei Oguchi

Mitsuko Kawai

Asami Mizukawa

Ikuko Hamada

Fumiyo Kohinata

Kunio Hamada

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Synopsis

In this moody Japanese horror film, newly-single mom Yoshimi Matsubara (Hitomi Kuroki) is enduring a bitter divorce and struggling to keep custody of her young daughter, Ikuko (Rio Kanno). As the unstable Yoshimi tries to make a fresh start in a new apartment, strange occurrences in the building gradually begin to take their toll. When Yoshimi and Ikuko both start seeing unsettling visions of a ghostly little girl, it's clear that they're being drawn toward the supernatural.

Director: Hideo Nakata
Producer: Takashige Ichise
Screenwriter: Yoshihiro Nakamura, Kenichi Suzuki
Production Co: United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
Original Language: Japanese
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 23, 2017
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Surround

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