Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures‘ follows the story of Tova and Cameron, who are brought together by fate, as they traverse a difficult time in their lives. While working in the aquarium in the small town of Sowell Bay, they bond with an octopus named Marcellus. Unbeknownst to them, he sees them as friends and keenly observes their emotional turmoils. Directed by Olivia Newman, the heartfelt drama film touches upon the themes of loss, grief, and the importance of having a community. It also delves into the unique connection formed between Marcellus and his humans, presenting the bond through a highly realistic lens. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Remarkably Bright Creatures Came Out of Endless Octopus Videos
‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ is an adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s 2022 fictional novel of the same name. It is adapted for the screen by Olivia Newman and John Whittington. Van Pelt has stated that the idea for the story was the product of her endlessly watching octopus videos on YouTube. At the time, she was looking to hone her creative skills by finding unique ways to tell a story. The quest to find an intriguing subject led her to YouTube, where she ended up watching many videos of octopuses. She would watch them creating chaos in aquariums by doing naughty stuff, including coming up with unexpected ways to stage an escape from their enclosures. Notably, this was before AI became a regular tool for creating videos on social media.
So all the stuff Van Pelt saw was actual videos of real octopuses. This made her realize how intelligent and perceptive octopuses are, and at one point, she started to wonder what an octopus’ inner monologue would sound like. The idea of creating a grumpy old octopus who sees humans as a less intelligent species than his own sounded like a fun place to start. Once she established the character of Marcellus, she started playing with the idea of him observing humans who visit him in the aquarium, which eventually led to the creation of Tova and Cameron. While the story was fictional, the author, who’d once dreamed of becoming a marine biologist, wanted to present Marcellus realistically. She read Sy Montgomery’s non-fiction book ‘Soul of an Octopus.’
It helped her understand how octopuses behave, particularly in relation to humans. She also spent a lot of time at aquariums, closely observing real-life octopuses to study how they behave when surrounded by people of different kinds. She noted that there was something in their eyes that reflected their intelligence and even their wisdom. It made sense that if humans were looking at them, they were looking back, too. Eventually, when she started to shape the character on paper, she made sure to send the sections about Marcellus to the people who work in marine biology. This way, she ensured that everything she wrote about the character was grounded in reality and never strayed too far to make Marcellus seem unrealistic as an octopus and a narrator.
The Author Reflected on the People Around Her to Create Realistic Characters
While Marcellus is at the center of the story, Shelby Van Pelt still needed human characters for him to observe. When she came up with Tova’s character, she wrote the old woman in the image of her own maternal grandmother. A lot of Tova’s mannerisms and the way she views the world come from Van Pelt’s grandma, who had been a significant figure in her life growing up. At the same time, she also had Sally Field in mind while writing the story, which is why she was ecstatic when Field came on board to play the role in the Netflix adaptation. Apart from her characterizations, Tova’s backstory plays an important role in how the events eventually turn out for her and Cameron.
For this, Van Pelt wanted to tap into their inner conflicts, to know what would keep them up at night. Having become a new mom around that time, the author imagined the heartbreak of losing one’s child. She saw it as the worst thing that could happen to a mother, which led to Tova losing her son in the story. In the same vein, she pondered on other things that made her anxious or worried, and these emotions found their way into her characters. She looked back on her own struggles in her 20s and the events that shaped her, which helped her create the core of Cameron’s character.
At the end of the day, Van Pelt wanted the story to be about the universal emotions of love and grief. Despite her personal connections to the characters and their journeys, she wanted the readers to be able to see themselves in Tova and Cameron’s struggles. The filmmakers carried this tone while adapting the book, focusing on staying true to the emotional core of the story. Apart from the themes of grief and loss, they made sure that the story’s wit and humor were also highlighted. Because, at the end of the day, it is the story about finding hope, community, and connection, be it in fellow humans or other remarkably bright creatures.
Read More: Is Marcellus the Octopus Real or CGI in Remarkably Bright Creatures?
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