Dark Water: Synopsis

Nothing is more terrifying than to realize your home, your family, your neighborhood, the very walls and ceilings that surround you have turned against you. When there is no safety to be found in what is supposed to be the very safest of places, the deepest form of psychological fear abounds. This theme has wended its way through some of the most unsettling and sophisticated horror-thrillers in movie history. From the kindly-seeming next-door neighbors secretly practicing satanic rituals in “Rosemary’s Baby” to the idyllic retreat which dissolves into family madness in “The Shining” to the lonely little boy who finds apparitions of the dead in urban hallways in “The Sixth Sense” -- the idea of “home sweet home” becoming unbearably haunted has long fired the artistic imagination.

Now, DARK WATER continues in this classic tradition of smart, stylish, emotionally charged and thought-provoking terror driven by the complex performances of a highly accomplished cast of actors. Acclaimed director Walter Salles (“Central Station,” “The Motorcycle Diaries”) joins the ranks of Alfred Hitchcock, Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, M. Night Shyamalan and Alejandro Amenebar in exploring the mind-bending, heart-stopping territory where everyday reality encounters the darkest supernatural mysteries. Based on a story by the author of the horror classic “The Ring,” DARK WATER approaches modern domestic anxiety from an original angle: that of a devoted mother who will go to unimaginable lengths to protect her daughter from an apartment that threatens to literally unleash a torrent of fury.

It all begins inside Apartment 9F. This is where a single mother, Dahlia Williams (Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly), is trying to make a brand-new start in life. Attempting to escape from a bitter custody battle with her estranged husband, Dahlia moves with her daughter Ceci to a dilapidated, sprawling housing block on Roosevelt Island at the very edges of New York City. Their new home provides little refuge. The rundown tower’s creepy noises, rickety elevator and sinister dark water stains are eerie enough. But Dahlia soon begins to suspect there is a far greater threat.

Just who or what is it that is playing mind games with Dahlia -- and can she trust her own senses when her imagination is also running wild? As Ceci’s ghostly encounters and an array of strange occurrences continue to build, Dahlia suddenly must question who she can trust and in what she can believe. But she will stop at nothing to figure out the riddle and protect her daughter...even as the dark water closes in around them. A world of familiar household objects, moods and emotions is transformed into a realm of relentless menace and dread in DARK WATER as the mystery unfolds.