It is a remake of the 2002 Japanese film of the same name, which was inspired by the short story "Floating Water" by Koji Suzuki, who also wrote the Ring trilogy.

The film stars Jennifer Connelly, Tim Roth, John C. Reilly, Pete Postlethwaite, Perla Haney-Jardine, Dougray Scott and Ariel Gade.

Kyle wants Cecilia to live closer to his apartment in Jersey City, but Dahlia wants to move to the cheaper Roosevelt Island, where she has found a good school.

She is intimidated by ghostly visions and a recurring nightmare in which the girl's mother warns her not to tell the police what she's done to her own daughter or else she will harm Cecilia.

Left to fend for herself, Natasha fell into the water tower and drowned, leaving her a vengeful ghost who is jealous of Cecilia because she has a mother.

The site's critics' consensus reads: "All the atmospherics in Dark Water can't make up for the lack of genuine scares.

[7] For Rolling Stone, Peter Travers wrote, "A classy ghost story is just the ticket in a summer of crass jolts... Screenwriter Rafael Yglesias (Fearless) stays alert to the psychological fears that underpin the supernatural doings in the apartment upstairs.

"[8] Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "well-crafted but thoroughly unsuspenseful" and said it "is dripping with clammy, claustrophobic atmosphere, but ultimately reveals itself as just another mildewed, child-centric ghost story of little import or resonance.

"[9] From The Washington Post, Ann Hornaday described the film as a "tasteful but unremitting bummer and yet one more case of an Oscar-winning actress proving that she can still do the kinds of disposable movies big awards are supposedly meant to banish from your résume forever.

"[10] For Slant Magazine Nick Schager wrote that the film improves on the source material characterizations, while over explaining the supernatural events.