written by: Olivia Newman and John Whittington
produced by: Bryan Unkeless, Peter Craig, and David Levine
directed by: Olivia Newman
rated: PG-13 (for thematic material, some strong language, suggestive references, and brief drug use)
runtime: 111 min.
U.S. release date: May 8, 2026 (Netflix) 

American novelist Shelby Van Pelt’s 2022 novel Remarkably Bright Creatures became a New York Times bestseller and sold over 4 million copies in 30 translations. That’s impressive considering the mystery drama was her writing debut, and it also guarantees an inevitable movie adaptation, which is where Netflix comes in. Tasked with helming the project is Olivia Newman, who is no stranger to novel adaptations after 2022’s “Where the Crawdads Sing”, and she has co-written the screenplay with John Wittington (who co-wrote the recent animated feature “Swapped” for Netflix), creating a semi-whimsical, quasi-introspective tale of grief and connection. While lovers of the novel might cringe at some choices that deviate from the novel, the movie is still about a friendship between an elderly woman and an octopus at its core. Just as an octopus can adapt to its surroundings, here is an adaptation that considers what works best as the story is translated to a different medium.

Like Van Pelt’s novel, our gateway to this story is an articulate Pacific octopus named Marcellus (voiced by Alfred Molina), who invites us to see the world from his perspective. At one time, he lived in the ocean, enjoying the freedom to eat and sleep whenever he needed. Now, his home is an exhibit at an aquarium in Sowell Bay, a seaside town in Washington state (near Puget Sound, though the filming took place in Vancouver), where he is one of the featured attractions. He takes note of over 1,400 “days of captivity”, silently judging the human visitors he finds mostly repulsive and repetitive; he’s grown accustomed to night custodian Tova Sullivan (Sally Field), an elderly woman who takes great pride in the meticulous ways of her work. They both have come to look forward to their time together, sharing a special connection as Tova tells Marcellus her life story, small-town concerns, and local gossip.

As one could imagine, everyone in town knows Tova, and they know she is widowed and experienced the loss of her son, Erick, when he was in his late teens/early twenties. She has friends around her age, Mary Ann (Kathy Baker), Janice (Joan Chen), and Barb (Beth Grant), and Ethan (Colm Meaney), the owner of the town’s lone store, but she hasn’t told anyone that she keeps getting phone calls from a senior living facility that has reserved a room for her. She can’t imagine leaving this life and her set schedules she’s become used to, but it might be time.

A new element enters Tova’s life and the locals of Sowell Bay when a struggling musician named Cameron (Lewis Pullman) arrives, driving an old van he lives out of. He’s been searching for the father that he never knew, some type of real estate developer, and that has led him to this town. When the twentysomething’s van breaks down, he realizes he’ll be there longer than anticipated because he’ll have to earn money for the repairs. He winds up working nights at the aquarium, becoming Tova’s replacement after she injures her ankle, and she trains him in her methodical fashion. Being a small town, the two wind running into each other outside of work, with Tova taking an interest in the young man’s life.

With the arrival of Cameron, “Remarkably Bright Creatures” turns into a story about unexpected opportunities for connections, as well as longing for connections. Cameron’s search for his father is his main priority, but he also meets someone his age, Avery (Sofia Black-D’Elia), who owns the paddleboard shop next to Ethan’s store. Tova doesn’t realize that the octopus she’s developed a longstanding connection with reciprocates her feelings, and Ethan looks forward to Tova entering his store whenever she does, secretly thinking the world of her. While Tova is set in her ways and much of her stubbornness masks the losses of her husband and son, she’s become so used to holding all that pain back and focusing on the tasks at hand, yet many times missing out on what’s right in front of her.

Much of Cameron’s story from the novel is either omitted or completely changed in this adaptation. While the side plot of his gradual relationship with Avery is there, it seems like there’s more to the insecure and frustrated character than what we get here. Unfortunately, much of the movie forgets about Marcellus, which is too bad considering Molina’s musings about life and humans feel spot-on, rather than the kind of Hallmark saccharization we’d typically find in such a story. The mystery of the story centers on what happened to Tova’s son, Erik, years ago. The screenplay doesn’t establish a cohesive connection to what happened in the past with Erik, and the current development between Tova and Cameron. Readers of the novel will be especially frustrated with how Wittington and Newman piece together the big revelation at the end. It winds up feeling tacked on, rather than emotionally earned.

Your enjoyment of “Remarkably Bright Creatures” will depend on two things: how you typically respond to Sally Field and whether or not you’ve read the book. For me, there are definitely times when the two-time Oscar-winning actress feels like she’s pouring a lot of “Sally Field” isms into Tova, often coming across as overly earnest, but then again, it’s kind of impossible for someone as recognizable as Field to disappear into a role. In recent years, it’s been nice seeing her play her age (“Spoiler Alert” and “80 for Brady”), yet her youthfulness shines through no matter what. The on-screen chemistry between Fields and Pullman is apparent, with both actors at their best in the scenes they share, often delivering their most emotional moments. The picturesque setting of the quaint fictional town is captured beautifully by cinematographer Ashley Conner (who also lensed Newman’s “First Match”), drawing viewers closer to the characters who inhabit it.

No doubt Field has a tricky role in that she interacts with a predominantly CGI octopus, but also in that she taps into the pain that Tova has hidden away for so long. It’s the emotional weight that Field communicates convincingly, with raw vulnerability. “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is at its most graceful when it comes to navigating challenging human issues, and thankfully, many of Van Pelt’s fanciful ideas for friendship are still intact.

RATING: **1/2