Dark Waters

I always find a story like this fascinating, the scale of corruption, cover up, how authorities and governments can be influenced and the incredible recklessness that powerful companies will show to protect their business and profits always astound me. All of that is on show in Dark Waters.

The other thing I’m always astounded by is how on earth do I not know these stories? This one focuses on DuPont and a long term legal battle with the people from a town in Wisconsin, a battle carried by one man, Rob Billet (Mark Ruffalo), and is based on Nathaniel Rich’s article in the New York times.

Billet is a “hot shot” lawyer who is visited by a friend of his grandma, Wilbur Tenant (Bill Camp), a farmer whose property is next to a DuPont landfill and is convinced that they are poisoning his land, his cattle and his family.

Dark Waters is an interesting film, its pace is very steady, it wanders off occasionally to explore a family story or a way that the case has impacted the lives of those involved and cleverly includes the grey area that comes with a town taking to court not only its largest employer but a company who’s fingerprints are all over the town.

The pacing and occasional change of story focus may be off putting to some but I think they are very deliberate decisions to show just how long and slowly the case has moved (20 years and still going on) and exploring the impacts of those delays on peoples lives.

The story is an interesting one and very much worth telling, it’s understated and patiently told and that patience maybe an issue for some but if like me these kind of stories interest you, then you’ll enjoy this.