A young woman barely survives a war-related shipwreck. Still very ill, she reaches out to her maternal aunt, who - somewhat surprisingly - turns out to be living on an isolated plantation called "Rossignol". Her relatives promise her a restful recovery in a welcoming home, but "Rossignol" rather falls short, both in terms of rest and in terms of welcome...
"Dark waters" is a thriller about a frail young woman who gets preyed upon by cunning criminals. Cinema has produced hundreds, if not thousands of "damsel in distress" movies where the damsel involved behaves like a chicken without a head. Here, thankfully, the heroine is a reasonably competent and clever person. Her harrowing war experiences may have inflicted deep scars, but she is no simpleton.
The movie makes excellent use of all the atmospheric possibilities inherent in a plantation environment : an ornate mansion filled with gloomy portraits, maze-like paths leading through dense vegetation, trees dripping with moss, a sweltering bayou, voracious stretches of quicksand. The dark waters mentioned in the title do indeed put in a notable appearance, complete with a lush, flashlight-deceiving cover of water plants.
It's a pity that the viewer gets to suspect early on that the poor heroine has strayed into a nest of vipers : the initial façade of well-meaning hospitality crumbles very quickly. "Dark waters" might have indulged in a bit more ambiguity or misdirection here. Still, a well-made thriller, with a bunch of memorably vile criminals.
"Dark waters" is a thriller about a frail young woman who gets preyed upon by cunning criminals. Cinema has produced hundreds, if not thousands of "damsel in distress" movies where the damsel involved behaves like a chicken without a head. Here, thankfully, the heroine is a reasonably competent and clever person. Her harrowing war experiences may have inflicted deep scars, but she is no simpleton.
The movie makes excellent use of all the atmospheric possibilities inherent in a plantation environment : an ornate mansion filled with gloomy portraits, maze-like paths leading through dense vegetation, trees dripping with moss, a sweltering bayou, voracious stretches of quicksand. The dark waters mentioned in the title do indeed put in a notable appearance, complete with a lush, flashlight-deceiving cover of water plants.
It's a pity that the viewer gets to suspect early on that the poor heroine has strayed into a nest of vipers : the initial façade of well-meaning hospitality crumbles very quickly. "Dark waters" might have indulged in a bit more ambiguity or misdirection here. Still, a well-made thriller, with a bunch of memorably vile criminals.