Dark waters is a somewhat surprising choice of theme for anyone who knows their Todd Haynes. After rock films like I'm Not Here and Velvet Goldmine and women-driven fast-in-the-wild-drama dramas like Far from heaven and Carol, he now delivers an Ellen Brokovich-style drama about the chemical industry's deadly imprints in our nature, and our bodies.
In the shotgun stands the chemical company DuPont, an economic giant who, in recent years, had to pay record damages for poisoning watercourses in the United States with the chemical C8 or PFAS as it is also called - originally invented for defense but which has been in every man's home for decades. From the Teflon boiler to the sofa. And everything in between.
In the film, it is mainly the occurrence of water cover that is dealt with as we follow the real and in time extremely drawn out dispute between DuPont and residents in West Virginia. First and foremost, it's about Wilbur Tennant, a poor hillbilly, badly affected by the emissions. When the cows die and the family gets sick, he contacts the big city and finally gets the reluctant help of lawyer Rob Bilott, who himself comes from the area.
The movie is largely based on an article in the New York Times with a headline that says it most: The lawyer who became Dupont's worst nightmare. And DuPont's worst nightmare (played by Mark Ruffalo) is the aforementioned Bilott, a co-owner of a company whose clients are usually just large companies but this time he is forced by moral, or perhaps mainly family, reasons to fight his regular customers .
Bill Camp (Outsider) is buff and hugely convincing as the tormented Wilbur, he only gives through his revelation an impressive contrast to the big city city slickers, but he also faces resistance in his own ranks. As the state and capital go hand in hand, it is difficult for the common man to get right. Particularly tricky if you live in a small town where Dupont is responsible for most jobs. Wilbur and his family are expelled from the community because of their dispute with the chemistry giant. The people are afraid of losing their jobs and are living after the old motto that a little shit cleanses the stomach.
Todd Hayne's choice of theme does not come as a surprise anytime soon, it is clear that he became involved with this story. That's exactly what you get. Cursed, but unfortunately also depressed. Over the state of things. Because this poisoning, and others like it, have been going on for so long, and still do.
Corona is just a gentle snuff compared to how much death and disease the chemicals of the industry spread.
Yes, you notice, you get upset.
But it is not a nuanced broad side to the capitalist system. It works, the movie says, as long as everyone plays by the rules. Funnily enough, it is the socially engaged Hollywood star Tim Robbins who makes the role of the good capitalist: the boss of the law firm. He is the best friend of the well-to-do, accustomed to see through his fingers, but he too is shocked by the cynicism behind the emissions.
Much information is required, which is usually an Achilles heel for this kind of trial, and although Todd Haynes with appendages solves it nicely with smooth exposition, the genre's conventions in the long run do their right - making habilit but a little traditional fiction of sensitive reality.
And it could well have been reduced to the number of scenes where various clown girls crack about the impossibility of the project.
But still, as I said, influential. The success comes naturally, without it no film. Furthermore, we already know this through news reports. But unfortunately, it is not a lasting triumph. The dupont got a huge hole in the wallet but scratched, which not all thousands of affected will do.