Dahlia Williams and her daughter Cecelia move into a rundown apartment on New York's Roosevelt Island. She is currently in midst of divorce proceedings and the apartment, though near an excellent school for her daughter, is all she can afford. From the time she arrives, there are mysterious occurrences and there is a constant drip from the ceiling in her daughter's bedroom.
Working from a premise that's not only thin but transparent, Salles struggles mightily to generate tension in any other way possible.
– Geoff Pevere,
Toronto Star,
8 Jul 2005
rotten:
Dark Water has more substance and a more interesting look than many horror films, but the familiar elements of the story disappoint.
– Claudia Puig,
USA Today,
8 Jul 2005
rotten:
A tasteful but unremitting bummer and yet one more case of an Oscar-winning actress proving that she can still do the kinds of disposable movies big awards are supposedly meant to banish from your resume forever.
– Ann Hornaday,
Washington Post,
8 Jul 2005
rotten:
Like so many recent thrillers of this ilk, many of them in some way exploiting the 'innocence' of childhood -- the dumb and unpleasant Hide and Seek springs to mind -- Dark Water falls apart in the wind-down.
– Stephanie Zacharek,
Salon.com,
8 Jul 2005
rotten:
It fails to deliver the narrative thrill twists its origins would promise.