'Remarkably Bright Creatures' is a new Netflix favorite
Sally Field, Lewis Pullman, and a sweet story about grief create some spring magic.
Tova Sullivan (Sally Field) is the kind of older woman who creates a schedule that allows for the most alone time possible without being rude about it. Her preferred friend is an old octopus that sounds like Alfred Molina, one of many fish at an aquarium in a beautiful small town where everybody (unfortunately) knows everything about everyone. Tova’s past trauma has kept her life in a bottle handcrafted by loss and isolation, but the peaceful atmosphere of fish and bright colors soothes the storm. When Cameron (Lewis Pullman) rides into town in a live-in van looking for someone, Tova’s life takes a different shape.
When you can create a feel-good movie out of a story about overcoming grief, you know a sweet spot has been found in cinema. Olivia Newman’s Remarkably Bright Creatures doesn’t have to try hard to get the ball rolling. Filmed in a cozy British Columbia town that looks like a supreme getaway from any city, the movie is a throwback to pre-CGI entertainment. A movie that reminds and teaches without preaching anything too heavy. Two people who have experienced crushing loss find a companion to help them “dance through the darkness,” as Shawn Hatosy’s heroic ER doctor says in HBO’s The Pitt.
Field and Pullman make you buy in quickly as different generations bond over the search for answers. Cameron’s ride needs repair, so he gets some time filling in for Tova after she suffers an injury after an interaction with Marcellus (the octopus). They aren’t the most likely of friends, but they melt each other’s defenses over the course of a few shifts together as mentor and student. Newman cowrote the script with John Whittington, which was adapted from a 2022 Shelby Van Pelt novel. While it’s not the preferred method to consume this adaptation, reading the novel is a consideration. After all, there’s a human face and setting to attach to the book.
Remarkably Bright Creatures fills its small town of zero secrets with talented actors. Colm Meaney gets to show a softer side of his film persona as a shop owner who helps both Tova and Cameron. A particular Grateful Dead t-shirt plays a part in the third act. Tova’s friends group is populated by the likes of Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, and Beth Grant. As noted before, the town and surrounding water is a supporting character in its own right. The score is gentle and powerful when necessary, letting the acting and writing take center stage.
There are some great monologues in Newman and Whittington’s adaptation, especially a late interaction between Baker and Field. The best screenplays say the most without displaying much effort or need to preach; instead, a different point of view is portrayed to the best of its ability. How one deals with loss and shows it to others, and the time that is required to heal those sorts of wounds. All of it is put on the table here without extra melodrama, sappiness, or a need for hyperbole.
Fine source material. Excellent follow-through. A need to revisit will be easy because this is a new Netflix favorite. A stripped-down, no frills tale about finding the sweet spot in tragedy… and perhaps some long-sought-after answers. When you wonder why Field came back to the plate after minimal lead work in the past few years, this kind of role should answer all those questions.
She can be elegant, ruthless, and blunt all at once. It’s pro-level work at an older age without any mph lost from its fastball. Pullman may be more than a chip off the block; the young man may end up becoming an even better actor than his old man, Bill.
Remarkably Bright Creatures is best served in front of the whole family. It’s The Shape of Water without the romance on a lighter level with a small dash of Finding Nemo (only because Molina’s Marcellus reminded me of Willem Dafoe’s Gil).