Dark Water

I thought Dark Water was an incredibly well done and unique film. A particularly interesting aspect of the movie was how it handled motherhood and maternity. Yoshimi is a single mother who is trying to do her best despite all that is stacked together, and when her new apartment building starts having strange things occur, everyone watching in the audience expects the worst. We’ve all seen horror films, especially ones of the haunted house variety, and most don’t end well for our protagonists. 

However, something about Dark Water is different. Sure, the film ends in a very sad and depressing fashion, but it is a different kind of sadness than most horror movies I’ve seen that end badly for the protagonists. When looking at a film like Insidious and the shock ending there, the twist with the father becoming possessed makes the viewer feel scared and uneasy. With Dark Water, the viewer just feels sad, but much more in a melancholy way. Yoshimi sacrifices herself at the end of the film to ensure that her daughter can grow up and live a good life. She becomes a school teacher! Yet the sense of melancholic tragedy still remains. Her mother never got to raise her up until that point even though she loved her more than anything. I saw Dark Water as a great commentary and motherhood and the unsung heroic aspects of it. Yoshimi is not necessarily honored for her choice, but her daughter knows what she sacrificed and even though Yoshimi was not there for some formative years she was the reason that those got to occur. And her sacrifice also showcased motherhood because she was taking care of the young girl who tragically passed away. Even in death, Yoshimi is an incredible mother and radiates with matriarchal energy.