The Weight of Water (2000) on Netflix
In 1873 two Norwegian immigrants are murdered on Smuttynose Island. Photographer Jean Janes sails with her husband Thomas, his brother Rich and Rich's girlfriend Adaline to research the crime.
- Netflix2.3/5
- IMDb5.8/1010,552 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes35%
Trailer
Plot summary
Jean Janes, a newspaper photographer, sails to Smuttynose Island in the Isles of Shoals with her husband Thomas, a poet, his brother Rich, who owns the yacht, and Rich's girlfriend Adaline. She is researching a double murder committed on the island in 1873. Jean finds archived papers that appear to have been written by Maren Hontvedt, a Norwegian immigrant who lived through the attack, describing her life there: her husband John has brought her from Norway, and she has no passion for him. The arrival of Maren's brother Evan with his new wife Anethe raises her spirits. Adaline flirts with Thomas openly, and Jean hides her jealousy.
Cast
- Joseph Ruttenas Judge
- John Walfas Defense Attorney
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Weight of Water (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kathryn Bigelow read Anita Shreve's novel in manuscript while shooting Strange Days, around the time her Norwegian-born mother died; she said adapting it was a way to bring her mother back to life.
- Shreve's novel, and the film, retell a semi-fictionalized account of the real 1873 murders of two Norwegian immigrants, a crime for which Louis Wagner was charged and executed; the murder story is paired with an invented modern one.
- Lionsgate Films shelved The Weight of Water for more than two years before giving it a limited release in just 27 US theaters on November 1, 2002; it had already premiered in France on July 31 that year.
