Dark Waters (2019)

★★★★

A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution.

Classification: 12A

"Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part." - William Somerset, Seven (1995)

Our planet can be a horrible place for many reasons, most of them down to the failures of our species through our insatiable greed, arrogance and hubris imagining that we can take this all for granted and our "success" will always be immortal. That morality is fleeting in the name of profit and comfort, as long as "you" aren't the one suffering why should you worry? That sentiment admit it or not is shared by most, being complacent, yes we sympathise and we outrage when we learn the truth but the status quo will always settle one way or the other unless continuously struck. Dark Waters seems like a typical legal investigative drama, a fine addition to the Mark Ruffalo "THEY KNEW!" subgenre joining 2015's Spotlight but its themes of environmentalism and accountability make Robert Bilott's story crucial viewing. Initially, I thought director Todd Haynes and producer/star Mark Ruffalo had simply uncovered another Erin Brockovich story of a community poisoned by a careless corporation but as Ruffalo's Bilott peels away at each level of the conspiracy, the staggering truth will send shockwaves through the audience.

The story of Dark Waters is not exclusive to one region, the actions of Dupont, an American chemical company have widespread ramifications across the globe as revealed by Bilott's real-life lawsuits and investigations. All in the name of their bottom line, the screenwriters Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan explain in calamitous detail how corporate executives ordered and committed negligent, heinous, and deceptive acts to save their own skin. What's worse is that even the vast damage which Dupont has caused is outrageous at a moral and criminal level, it isn't surprising in the least. Oh, a multi-millionaire corporation knowingly poisoned millions for the sake of saving money, of course they did, because we live in a horrible world where human life, where all life is expendable in the name of monetary profit, we can't dare disappoint the shareholders. This abhorrent mindset still drives our society today, world leaders and titans of industry would rather stick their heads in the sand than acknowledge the environmental dangers we face, how our planet is fast approaching the brink of disaster but again as long as the stock market is rising, who gives a shit. Not them because they believe it doesn't affect them, as Dark Waters scientific and legal drama shows a darker story about America's societal differences and how the affluent can look down upon the working class.

Bilott is a corporate defence attorney working in Cincinnati, while a newly minted law partner at his firm, they do not represent Dupont though have a friendly relationship with their executives including Victor Garber's Phil Donnelly. Bilott's grandmother lives in West Virginia, a state known for its farming, logging and coal mining, it's a blue-collar state of hard-working people though stereotypes would have you dictate them as 'hicks'. Bilott is approached by a West Virginian farmer named Wilbur Tennant (a stunning, emotional but grisly Bill Camp), an acquaintance of his grandmother who says he needs a lawyer to help him find out why his cows are dying, suspecting it has something to do with a Dupont landfill near his property. Bilott takes the case reluctantly, finding Tennant's pessimistic and cantankerous paranoia tiresome but presses forward naively believing Dupont would want to correct a hazardous fault never once believing that Tennant's case would forever change his career and life. While Dark Waters follows the predictable paths of the genre, though Haynes directs through them effectively with harrowing allure, it is that the moral failure of men is not the end-all and how the perseverance against injustice is always something worth fighting for that makes the film so compelling. Bilott is a married man, with a child and another baby on the way, now recently promoted he has built himself the life most people hope for: stability, and selflessly puts it all on the line in the name of the ideals we claim to uphold. People are dying, getting cancer, birth deformities, being lied to so Dupont can't be held accountable and continue to make money, and it suggests a disturbing rationale for why they continued to it. Tennant is a simple farmer from West Virginia, Bilott grew up as an airforce brat travelling from state to state but has roots in West Virginia and when Bilott presses Phil Donnelly for more information about a chemical named "PFOA" Donnelly venomously calls him a "hick", the film hints Dupont doesn't care about the morality because they're just poisoning poor people, those who don't "fit in" with the upper echelon on fine society.

Bilott has a ticket into this world, to be revered and respected easily as another suit in the cogs of the corporate machine. Dark Waters has its classic triumphant moments where Ruffalo gives Bilott his moral victories but it also goes beyond to show the consequences of fighting the status quo, not just for Bilott, but for Tennant and other locals who decide to take on Dupont. Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan don't structure the film for the climax to be Ruffalo giving an impassioned speech in a courtroom which will galvanize the spirits of every man, woman and child to demand justice for Dupont's crimes. Instead its a meticulously detailed script that explains point by point what was done, how it was done and why "PFOA" or "forever chemicals" are a worldwide catastrophe, the ramifications of Dark Waters narrative are monumental, a crushing weight that is only being held up by Bilott. The film shows the character receiving support from other sources, such as Tennant and his wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway), but also Tim Robbins' Tom Terp, Bilott's boss, and an always delightful Bill Pullman as Harry Deitzler, a local DA but Haynes shows how perseverance dies as time goes by leaving Bilott as the lone lawyer still fighting. Bilott commits his entire life to the case, enduring pay cuts, strain on his marriage and career, harassment from locals who don't understand why the lawsuit is putting the state's top employer at risk. It is easy to become complacent, to give up when the end is nowhere in sight and victory can't even be guaranteed, and Dark Waters can bask in the misery of its reality to the point where the audience feels truly helpless in the face of the power of Dupont. Haynes and Ruffalo through Bilott's principles and commitment show that it is not all helpless, that the world can be a horrible place full of horrible people but that it's still worth fighting for.

A lot of what elevates Haynes vision for Dark Waters beyond its genre contemporaries is in its performances and visuals, with cinematographer Edward Lachman creating a foreboding portrait of decay across the whole film. The Tennant farm is displayed in cold blue, perishing as a mass grave, it is a haunting location and you can feel the hazardous infection seeping from every frame. It is a misery to look upon on as you can see how Dupont's actions have poisoned an American livelihood and the grievous aesthetic is enough to spur any man to believe that something is critically wrong. Lachman's work is effective throughout the film, the harsh fluorescent lights in the law offices, orange hues and bright white to how the harsh blue cold of Tennant's farm begins to become a familiar tone against other locations. Dark Waters is a gorgeous film to look at and Lachman's work subtly informs the ramifications of the lawsuit against its world. Finally, the whole cast is top-notch while Ruffalo and Camp deliver award-worthy passionate performances of pain, outrage, intelligence and emotional authenticity, Camp, especially in his most vulnerable moments of fear and anguish, is a heartbreaking performance of a man in desperate need of help. Just about every cast member gets their moment to shine, Hathaway shows how Sarah Bilott was a woman who made her own sacrifices for her family how Bilott's crusade threatens it all. Tim Robbins has one of the best scenes in the whole film where the veneer of a stuffy lawyer is thrown out as he passionately reams out Dupont's actions with righteous fury. Making his succumbing to defeat in the third act all the more demoralizing and how Bilott's perseverance all the more important.

Dark Waters is a stunning, eye-opening drama that will hopefully have you reassessing so many aspects of our consumerism and environmental impact on the planet. The victories in the film are bitter, but Haynes makes sure that even without that assurance of triumph, that the fight still must be had and that the heroism of Robert Bilott is something we must all strive towards. Powerful thematic drama, knowledge scripting and effective visual directing do so much to have the film stand apart from others in its genre, it feels classic in approach but dreadfully relevant because of what the story needs to say. Haynes and Ruffalo, the whole production team do everything in their power to have Dark Waters stick with you, to have its truth burn into your soul and ask you to take this knowledge with purpose. To have our planet and environment not be a husk which corporations devastate for the sake of their bank balance, for the fortitude of Robert Bilott to not be an anomaly but a continuing inspiration for all.

The world is worth fighting for.

Director: #ToddHaynes

Screenwriter: #MarioCorrea and #MatthewMichaelCarnahan

Cast: #MarkRuffalo, #AnneHathaway, #TimRobbins, #BillCamp, #VictorGarber, #MareWinningham, #BillPullman