Lady in the Water

Lady in the Water is a 2006 American fantasy psychological thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who produced with Sam Mercer. The film features the starring cast of Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard with Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin and Jared Harris in supporting roles. Produced by Legendary Pictures and Blinding Edge Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the film's plot concerns the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex who discovers a young woman in the swimming pool. Gradually, he and his neighbors learn that she is a water nymph (or Narf) whose life is in danger from a vicious, wolf-like, mystical creature called a Scrunt that tries to keep her from returning to her watery "blue world." Lady in the Water was released on July 21, 2006. It is Shyamalan's first film not distributed by Walt Disney Studios under their Touchstone Pictures and Hollywood Pictures labels since Wide Awake. The film received negative reviews, with criticism revolving around the self-indulgence with which Shyamalan cast himself in the film, the lack of consistency, and the film's characterization. The film was also a financial failure grossing $72 million against a $70 million production budget. At the 27th Golden Raspberry Awards, Lady in the Water received four nominations for Worst Picture and Worst Screenplay, and won two for Worst Director, and Worst Supporting Actor for Shyamalan. Plot One evening, Cleveland Heep, who became the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex after his family was murdered, discovers Story, a Narf (a naiad-like being) from the Blue World, in his building's pool, immediately rescuing her from an attack by a Scrunt, a grass-covered, wolf-like creature that hides by flattening its body against the turf. Story explains she has arrived to find the Writer, the "vessel" who will be magically awakened when he meets her, and then write a book that will save humanity in the future. When Heep mentions the word "Narf" to tenant Young-Soon, she recognizes it from stories told by her mother, Mrs. Choi, then summarizes the stories for him.