Mark Ruffalo as Robert Bilott in Dark Waters.
Camera IconMark Ruffalo as Robert Bilott in Dark Waters. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Dark Waters film review: deep dive into toxic chemical saga

Lucy RutherfordWestern Suburbs Weekly

WHEN not acting, Mark Ruffalo is a vocal activist and he has now combined the two in a film about the toxic chemicals polluting our waters and consequently us.

Dark Waters is the true story of corporate defence lawyer Robert Bilott (Ruffalo) who turned his back on the big chemical corporations he had spent his career defending.

When West Virginia farmer Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp) asks for his help to get DuPont to investigate whether their nearby landfill site is causing the strange deaths of his cows, Bilott at first thinks the corporation has made a genuine mistake.

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However, he discovers the company has been knowingly dumping the manmade forever chemical PFOA-C8 used to manufacture Telfon, a waterproofing substance in everything from frying pans to carpets, that DuPont knows causes a variety of illnesses such as cancer and birth defects.

Text at the end of the film informs us that these chemicals are in the bloodstreams of 99 per cent of all living creatures on earth, a terrifying statistic that the film leaves you with without any tools on how to respond.

Ruffalo disappears into the role, impassive on the surface but emotions running underneath as he becomes deeply invested in the lives of the people the real-life Bilott has dedicated his life to defending.

Anne Hathaway is bizarrely miscast as his wife Sarah, sporting a bad wig, constantly pregnant and acting as an unnecessary antagonist against Bilott when the topic of the film is heavy enough.

As important as awareness around chemical pollution is, it does not necessarily lend itself to dramatisation.

Dark Waters (M)

Director: Todd Haynes

Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins

Three stars

Now showing

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