Dark Water

PG-13

Released Jul 8, 2005

1 hr. 45 min.

Mystery & Thriller

Horror

List

47%

152 Reviews

Tomatometer

28%

100,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) wants to move away from her ex-husband, Kyle (Dougray Scott), and take her daughter, Ceci (Ariel Gade), with her. Relocating to a dreary tower block, Dahlia and Ceci discover eerie, dark water leaking through the ceiling of their new apartment. Dahlia petitions the supervisor (Pete Postlethwaite) and the building's owner (John C. Reilly) to fix the leak, yet it only gets worse. Now having nightmares about the dripping, Dahlia is driven to confront the problem herself.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Fandango at Home

Premiered Jan 16

Buy Now

Fandango at Home

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent Dark Water on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, Apple TV.

Critics Consensus

All the atmospherics in Dark Water can't make up for the lack of genuine scares.

Read Critics Reviews

Larry L

In my opinion one of the greatest and one of my favorite ghost story movies how it got thumbs down so many times is beyond me. Do you people actually watch these movies?

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/24

Full Review

Blu B

Music is ok I guess but very boring and forgettable. Otherwise everything else is subpar save for passsable acting. Connelly probably is the best thing in this but even she is just ok. No one really has that much chemistry, the villian is super forgettable and feels like a generic girl from the well from Ring knock off, and everyone else is just kind there. The setting is ok enough but the way it's shot really isn't anything special and it's not really moody or that atmospheric. Above all else this really never gets scary or builds much tension. The culprit? A very unclear script that feels like stuff just happens once they move in. the opening 10 minutes or so really drags also with Reily showing the apartment to them. Were never really sure what the little girl wants, at first you think it's so she can find rest than I guess for a Mom. The dark brown water also isn't really scary at all but they film it like it's supposed to be scary. This feels like it's trying to be something like The Shining except it doesn't have powerhouse acting, a villian to match, or and atmosphere or really memorable scares/scenes. All the scenes in this are of dark water. At least there is really only one jumpscare but it's so predictable. The backstory of the her divorce, the kid being poscessed, the constant flooding of the upstairs apartment gets really repetitve and feels like it goes nowhere. It's a very muddled script. Unless your a super die hard Connelly fan most people should skip this.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/16/24

Full Review

Satin B

Don't even bother watching this 🖕⚠️

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

01/17/24

Full Review

Sean R

I would argue this isnt even a horror film. Its a family drama with some horror elements. However its not clever enough to connect the "horror" to the personal drama that the charactors are going through. Made even more frustrating that there are clear paralels to be made here but its almost like the film couldnt be bothered with the task of tying all the threads together. Finally there are some really good actors in this movie but none of them are even close to the calaber we have come to expect from them, its always anoying seeing really talented people make very boring, not good work. Stick with the original, as this is an unfocused forgettable mess.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

05/30/23

Full Review

steve d

Jennifer Connelly is effective, the film is not.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Shaheed B

I think I was watching the wrong movie because after an hour... I realised Mark Ruffalo wasn't going to appear... I would have expected this movie to be scary, it actually isn't. I should have known looking that the cover to this movie, way over exaggerated as if it's trying to be scary. The entire movie was actually very depressing and I didn't feel like they were actually progressing at all. Even though it was the ghost it felt like she was loosing her mind and going to lose custody of her child because she is going to go insane. The cinematography was very dark and depressing, it felt quite flat, the amount of times I wished it was a sunny day in the movie because everything looked so sad. The sound was literally depression, everything was mellow, when there was a leak or anything like that, the sound never helped at all, it supposed so like something was about to happen have a baang! for a jump scare but nothing sounded impressive not even cimematy. This movie didn't feel like it was worth watching at all, I felt like a wasted my time watching something that didn't progress or have a conclusive ending. Do not watch this movie. Do not waste your time. Just a heads up...the movie with Mark Ruffalo is called Dark Waters this movie is called Dark Water.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

10/23/22

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Walter Salles

Director

Jennifer Connelly

Dahlia Williams

John C. Reilly

Mr. Murray

Tim Roth

Jeff Platzer

Dougray Scott

Kyle

Pete Postlethwaite

Veeck

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

41%

46%

The Grudge

37%

58%

The Skeleton Key

13%

21%

Boogeyman

TRAILER

for Boogeyman

11%

33%

Shutter

10%

34%

Darkness Falls

TRAILER

for Darkness Falls

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

Next Asia-to-America Horror Remakes? Two Separate "Eye"s

Superheroes Generate Some Fantastic Weekend "Four" Play

Critical Consensus: Superheroes vs. the Supernatural

View more photos

David Ansen

Newsweek

This dank, dark and disturbing psychological horror film is a remake of a Hideo Nakata chiller, but the film it most evokes is Roman Polanski's Repulsion, another tale of mental instability and bad real estate.

Mar 14, 2018

Full Review

Dan Jolin

Empire Magazine

Interesting and unsettling, but never terrifying.

Rated: 3/5

Jul 22, 2005

Full Review

Nev Pierce

BBC.com

Dark Water is a failure as a horror movie.

Rated: 2/5

Jul 19, 2005

Full Review

Kaleem Aftab

The List

That fatal flaw that this shares with the original is the best part of the film being in the initial plot-revealing 20 minutes. From here, it fails to build on the tension.

Rated: 3/5

Apr 25, 2019

Full Review

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

The supporting characters, in fact, are the most enjoyable part of the film, often more enjoyable than Connelly or Gade, each taking great advantage of their scenes to create real people in a short space of time.

Rated: 5/10

Mar 18, 2011

Full Review

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

Evolves from a supernatural mystery to a truly sad tragedy...

Apr 29, 2009

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

Dahlia (Jennifer Connelly) wants to move away from her ex-husband, Kyle (Dougray Scott), and take her daughter, Ceci (Ariel Gade), with her. Relocating to a dreary tower block, Dahlia and Ceci discover eerie, dark water leaking through the ceiling of their new apartment. Dahlia petitions the supervisor (Pete Postlethwaite) and the building's owner (John C. Reilly) to fix the leak, yet it only gets worse. Now having nightmares about the dripping, Dahlia is driven to confront the problem herself.

Director: Walter Salles
Executive Producer: Ashley Kramer, Olívia Guimarães
Screenwriter: Rafael Yglesias
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures
Production Co: Pandemonium
Rating: PG-13 (Terror|Disturbing Situations)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Horror
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 8, 2005, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $25.5M
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

Most Popular at Home Now