Movie Thoughts: Remarkably Bright Creatures (2026)

• Released: May 8th, 2026
• Directed by: Olivia Newman
• Running time: 1h 51min
• Rating 4/5

Synopsis

An older woman named Tova and a troubled young man called Cameron bond over their shared job of cleaning an aquarium, where they especially are close to the octopus Marcellus. They start to help one another, and eventually Tova makes a remarkable discovery regarding Cameron.

My Thoughts

I haven't read the book this is based on, so I went in blind. And yeah, it's honestly really good. This is just such a wholesome and hopeful movie. It isn't anything grand or epic, but it needn't be. It's just this wonderful tale of these two characters of different walks of life who came together and forged a unique bond.

I loved both of our main characters. Neither Tova nor Cam are perfect, but they just feel very realistic and you do genuinely root for them. I especially found Tova to be very sympathetic. The characters around them are fun and interesting, too, but Tova and Cameron and their relationship really steal the show.

There's also Marcellus, who is the octopus and our narrator. I was initially a little disappointed that he wasn't actually the main character (you know me and my love of xenofiction), but once I got used to him being used as a framing device/side character combo I quickly grew to love him. He has a sad ending, but a great one, too, with him being the one to finally reunite Tova and Cam once and for all. I also really want to compliment the animation on Marcellus, it was legit hard for me to tell if he was a genuine animal or CGI a lot of the time.

Overall a great movie. Very emotional, very heartfelt, and wholesome. Do recommend it.