Remarkably Bright Creatures is just that

John M. Delia Jr
May 8
3 min read

Updated: 3 hours ago

There are many questions we face every day that we struggle to find the answers to, while many of us wonder what the true meaning to our lives is. Going through our entire life to eventually, if we are lucky, to finally discover our true reason for our existence. As for sea creatures, they have a weird view of humans especially when they live in the aquarium. The octopus, for example, has a complex nervous system with magnificent sight, they can deflate its shape to squeeze through the smallest holes, and are the most intelligent creature in the ocean. They can also disguise themselves in many different ways to adapt to their environment and make it sometimes impossible to see them. As the story begins, we find that it is narrated by one of these most amazing animals.

Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina), a Giant Pacific octopus that lives at the aquarium in Sowell Bay, Washington, struggles with the everyday view of our human species. Since these wonderful establishments constantly contain the youngest of our species, you can understand why this friendly animal sees us as less intelligent than themselves. As for Marcellus, he has a favorite human that he enjoys watching every day and that is Tova Sullivan (Sally Field), an elderly cleaning lady that works for the state aquarium. As time goes by Marcellus finds that the cleaning lady suffers from something he cannot figure out. While he yearns for the ocean floor, he feels that her pain is similar to what he experiences as well.

When a young drifter comes to town looking for someone important to him, Cameron Cassmore (Lewis Pullman), a member of a band called Moth Sausage comes along some bad luck and needs to find work on the recommendation from Ethan Mack (Colm Meaney), the proprietor of a local Shop-Way grocery store. While at the state aquarium he meets Tova and Marcellus, where he begins to discover that this place has something more for him than just a job. Here we begin a journey that will explore the past of each character as it leads us the present, including young Tova (Meghan Heffern), nine-year-old Cameron (Kingston Goodjohn), teenage Erik (Brandon McEwan), child age Erik (Miles Marthaller), and Daphne Cassmore (Sasha Craig). Along with her friends the Knt-Wits from her knitting club, Janice Kim (Joan Chen), Mary Ann Minetti (Kathy Baker), and Barb Vanderhoof (Beth Grant), Tovi begins to see a new importance to her life that may help her determine her future.

Based on a best-selling novel, director Olivia Newman has a huge task to live up to and she does just that. Her storyline grabs the emotion from the audience as she presents this tale in a way that it may be mentioned during award season. Olivia included some remarkable special effects with the sea creatures that give you a realistic view into how amazing they are. The performance from the cast was outstanding and helps bring this narrative home.

This beautiful story brings you on a human quest that will eventually lead you to an emotional conclusion. When you have some time for a good movie, tune into your Netflix account and enjoy.