Based on the short story "Floating Water" by Koji Suzuki, Dark Water is a tale based on Japanese premise about a recently separated single mother. It is a remake of Hideo Nakata's film.

Dahlia Williams (Jennifer Connelly), a newly separated mom, in the middle of her nasty divorce, is struggling to find an apartment with her six year old daughter Ceci. They find a two bedroom apartment in a very deteriorating condition through a real estate agent named Murray (John C.Reilly). He is a very charming salesman, who promised Dahlia that the apartment will be painted and fixed before she moves in. Dahlia takes 
the apartment because she couldn't afford anything better as a single mother without a job but Murray fails to keep his promise.

As soon as they move into the new place things starts to get worse, a strange liquid begins to leak through the ceiling and mysterious creepy noises keep coming out in the night from all around. Moreover, Dahlia is haunted by scary dreams of dead people and Ceci acquires a possessive morbid imaginary friend. At some point Dahlia suspects that her ex-husband Kyle (Dougray Scott) might be playing some games just to drive her 
crazy. Find out whether Dahlia is insane or somebody is playing some game with her.

Director Walter Salles is trying to narrate a scary tale of a single mother and daughter. Salles brings some suspense into the story by carefully etching Dahlia's legal battle with Kyle. The talented director succeeds in keeping the audience on the edge of their seats with the slow pace of the story. Also the mother-daughter relationship as well as the themes of isolation and abandonment are very well developed.

Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly presents a marvelous performance as Dahlia. She handles
the issues of a single mother very well. John Reilly as the real estate agent who can sell even snake oil, is hilarious.

The movie has it's own pitfalls like lack of real horror and serious substance. But the story is decent with a complex plot, excellent acting and an effective climax. Overall it is an entertainer. It could be classified as a decent psychological thriller.

We rate this movie ABOVE AVERAGE.