By: Andrew Parker
In the adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling novel Remarkably Bright Creatures (now streaming on Netflix), legendary actress Sally Field stars as Tovah Sullivan, an lonely, aging woman living in the American Pacific Northwest who generally keeps to herself outside of a job cleaning up at the local aquarium after hours. She has been grieving the loss of her son for years, with some in town thinking the young man committed suicide while Tovah holds fast to the belief that his death was accidental. She enjoys the responsibility and solitude of the job, and her closest confidant is a Giant Pacific Octopus named Marcellus (whose running inner monologue is provided by Alfred Molina). Equally a solitary creature and aging even faster than Tovah, Marcellus appreciates the cleaning lady more than most other humans, and certainly more than Cameron (played by Lewis Pullman), a guitar playing drifter who has rolled into town temporarily while searching for his father. When Tovah goes down with an injury and has to take some time off, Cameron takes her place at the aquarium. While the headstrong Tovah shows Cameron the ropes, Marcellus realizes that there could be a way to bring both of them some much needed closure in their lives.
