Dark Water

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Dark Water

PG-13

2002

1h 40m

Horror

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Popcornmeter

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

04/07/2024

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

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Alexander Walker

London Evening Standard

01/10/2018

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.

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Barbara Ellen

The Times (UK)

01/03/2018

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

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Wael Khairy

The Cinephile Fix

03/04/2024

...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.

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Emma Wolfe

SpookyAstronauts

06/02/2021

7/10

It checks all the boxes in my opinion.

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Oui L

Aug 4

Great film. Came with the criterion boxset; loved it alot!

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Lau S

Jul 29

Great Japanese movie! I little bit outdated, but I liked it!

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Ian S

Jul 21

An interesting, well acted movie with plenty of atmosphere. Sound design and visuals were good but the pacing left too many flat spots for a movie almost two hours long. Not as good as Pulse or Ringu but worth seeing for fans of Japanese horror films. A near miss.

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Madoka A

Jun 23

Fantastic. Spooky. Funny. Great product! Really good!

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Lily R

May 19

Great Japanese movie! When of the all time bests! Alot of atmosphere and suspense!

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Bat C

Apr 28

Um bom filme, emocionante, um pouco assustador Bom de assistir

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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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