Taglines: The truth has a man on the inside.
A corporate defense attorney takes on an environmental lawsuit against a chemical company that exposes a lengthy history of pollution. Inspired by a shocking true story, a tenacious attorney (Mark Ruffalo) uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths due to one of the world’s largest corporations, DuPont. In the process, he risks everything – his future, his family, and his own life – to expose the truth.
Dark Waters is a 2019 American legal thriller film directed by Todd Haynes and written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan. The story dramatizes Robert Bilott’s case against the chemical manufacturing corporation DuPont after they contaminated a town with unregulated chemicals. It stars Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, Bill Camp, Victor Garber, Mare Winningham, William Jackson Harper, and Bill Pullman.
The film is based on the 2016 New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” by Nathaniel Rich. Parts of the story were also reported by Mariah Blake, whose 2015 article “Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia” was a National Magazine Award finalist, and Sharon Lerner, whose series “Bad Chemistry” ran in The Intercept. Bilott also wrote a memoir, Exposure, detailing his 20-year legal battle against DuPont.
Dark Waters had a limited theatrical release on November 22, 2019, by Focus Features, and went wide on December 6, 2019. The film received positive reviews from critics and has grossed $21 million.
About the Story
In 1998, Robert Bilott (Mark Ruffalo) is a corporate defense attorney in Cincinnati, Ohio. One day at the office, farmer Wilbur Tennant (Bill Camp), an acquaintance of Robert’s grandmother, arrives with boxes of videotapes, requesting Robert’s assistance. Robert doesn’t have time for him, but later drives out to his home town of Parkersburg, West Virginia, to see his grandmother and then Wilbur.
Wilbur shows him evidence – from video tapes he’s made to remaining cow parts – of how all 190 of his cows have died, showing signs of bizarre and strange disease. He knows it has to do with the huge company DuPont, who has a plant in town, since his brother had been working for them disposing of waste. Robert asks his boss, Tom Terp (Tim Robbins) if he can take the case, assuring him it will be a small side project. Tom reluctantly agrees.
At a function for attorneys, Robert broaches the subject with DuPont attorney Phil Donnelly (Victor Garber), who politely tells him he’s not aware of the specifics but will help out in any way he can. Mark files a small suit so he can gain information through legal discovery of the chemicals that have been dumped on the site. He doesn’t find anything useful, then realizes it’s possible that whatever poisoned Wilbur’s cattle could be something that isn’t even regulated by the EPA.
At an awards dinner, he presses Phil on the issue, who curses at him and calls him a hick. Robert is able to legally force DuPont to turn over its information, which it does, sending him hundreds of boxes of documents hoping he’ll never find anything. He goes through the files one by one, finally finding reference to a chemical called PFOA that he can’t find anything about. He continues going through the documents.
In the middle of the night, Robert’s pregnant wife Sarah (Anne Hathaway) finds him tearing the carpet off the floors and going through their pans. He tells her they’re being poisoned, and she thinks he’s gone mad, until he explains what he’s found in the DuPont documents: PFOA-C8 is a man-made chemical used in the production of Teflon. It was created for army tanks, but then used by companies in American homes.
DuPont has been running tests of the affect of it for decades, including on animals and on their own employees. Their own studies show that it caused cancer in animals, people, and birth defects in babies of women working on their line – and they never said a thing. They then dumped hundreds of gallons of toxic sludge upriver from Wilbur’s farm.
Wilbur, meanwhile, has been shunned by the entire local community for suing their biggest employer. His house is broken into, and he gets sicker. Robert goes to him with the evidence and tells Wilbur to take the settlement DuPont is offering, but Wilbur refuses, wanting justice and not wanting to stay silent. He tells Robert he and his wife both have cancer. Robert feels guilty, and so he gets Wilbur the settlement, he also writes a brief with all the DuPont evidence and sends it to the EPA and Department of Justice, among others. The EPA fines DuPont $16.5 million.
DuPont sends a letter to Parkersburg residents telling them that there is PFOA in the water but in safe amounts. Darlene Kiger (Mare Winningham) and her husband get the letter and approach Robert, Darlene remembering her first husband’s illness while working in the plant that the employees called “Teflon flu”. She also had to have a hysterectomy before she was 40.
Robert decides to start with the Kigers to lead a class action lawsuit against DuPont – he wants a settlement and also medical management for the people of Parkersburg, meaning DuPont will have to monitor and take care of their health care. There is push-back at a meeting with the partners at the law firm, who think this will ruin the firm’s reputation to go after a company that they would normally be defending. Tom angrily chastises them, arguing that this is the right thing to do.
Dark Waters (2019)
Directed by: Todd Haynes
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Tim Robbins, William Jackson Harper, Mare Winningham, Bill Pullman, Chaney Morrow, Trenton Hudson, Louisa Krause, Barry Mulholland, Scarlett Hicks, Sydney Miles
Screenplay by: Mario Correa
Production Design by: Hannah Beachler
Cinematography by: Edward Lachman
Film Editing by: Affonso Gonçalves
Costume Design by: Christopher Peterson
Set Decoration by: Helen Britten
Art Direction by: Miles Michael, Jesse Rosenthal
Music by: Marcelo Zarvos
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for thematic content, some disturbing images and strong language.
Distributed by: Focus Features
Release Date: November 22, 2019
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