Sally Field stars in the Netflix adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt's best-selling novel Remarkably Bright Creatures, a gentle drama about an elderly aquarium cleaner who forms an unlikely bond with a grumpy octopus. The film, directed by Olivia Newman, is aimed at an older audience and offers a heart-first story of broken people trying to put themselves back together.
Field plays Tova, a cleaner at an aquarium in a picturesque coastal town. Still grieving the death of her son years earlier, she prefers solitude, a trait she shares with Marcellus, an elderly octopus voiced by Alfred Molina. Tova talks to Marcellus about her life, and their connection deepens when she injures her foot and is forced to reconsider her isolation.
The arrival of Cameron, played by Lewis Pullman, a wannabe rocker who starts working alongside Tova, initially causes friction. However, they soon discover common ground in their grief and sense of being unmoored, striking up a friendship with help from Marcellus. The film unfolds leisurely without much surprise, but Field's performance anchors the story, moving smoothly between comedy and drama.
While some subplots, including romantic ones involving Colm Meaney and Sofia Black D'Elia, feel underdeveloped, the film succeeds in giving older female characters space to wrestle with their past and future without being treated as punchlines. Molina's voiceover adds depth, though the octopus character is not always seamlessly integrated into the narrative.
