X
- 2021
- Unrated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 41 m
- 2021
- Unrated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 41 m
Summary Little Fish opens in the midst of a global epidemic: Neuroinflammatory Affliction, a sever and rapid Alzheimer’s-like condition in which people’s memories disappear. Couple Jude Williams (Jack O’Connell) and Emma Ryerson (Olivia Cooke) are grappling with the realities of NIA, interspersed with glimpses from the past as the two meet and t...
Directed By: Chad Hartigan
Written By: Mattson Tomlin, Aja Gabel
- 2021
- Unrated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 41 m
- 2021
- Unrated
- IFC Films
- 1 h 41 m
Little Fish
71
6.4
Where to Watch
Summary Little Fish opens in the midst of a global epidemic: Neuroinflammatory Affliction, a sever and rapid Alzheimer’s-like condition in which people’s memories disappear. Couple Jude Williams (Jack O’Connell) and Emma Ryerson (Olivia Cooke) are grappling with the realities of NIA, interspersed with glimpses from the past as the two meet and t...
Directed By: Chad Hartigan
Written By: Mattson Tomlin, Aja Gabel
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
71
91% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 11 Critic Reviews
71
91% Positive
10 Reviews
10 Reviews
9% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
It makes a global crisis intensely personal, even romantic.
This day-after-tomorrow fantasy, made before anybody had even heard of COVID-19, is touchingly romantic and emotionally credible. It’s an escape that resembles our current locked-down lives, with feelings as relatable as they are fictionally heightened.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
6.4
50% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
40% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 20 User Ratings
6.4
50% Positive
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
40% Mixed
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
10% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Obsessed though it is with the past, throughout its whole runtime, the best part always lies ahead.
Talk about timing. When he began making Little Fish, an intimate and affecting romance in a sci-fi setting, director Chad Hartigan had no idea the world would be coping with a real pandemic in the real 2021. Watching this fictional society begin to fray in panic feels just a tad too close for comfort.
A portrait of life’s impermanence, it’s a bittersweet small-scale saga whose occasional sluggishness is offset by its sensitivity.
Once you’re swept up in Emma and Jude’s romance — it’s not hard, even though the montages veer a little too precious — the skimmed-over science matters little. This is sci-fi rooted more in feelings than fact. Its resonance is similar to “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” though it’s arguably antithetical in plot.
The lackluster Little Fish banks on the automatic pathos of its subject matter, unaware that such delicate material actually requires greater skill and finesse to pull off, now more than ever. Rather than imbuing this unintended commentary with a cathartic charge, its proximity to reality accentuates the air of inauthenticity.
Nice movie. Good chemistry w/two main leads. Always remember the good times & the bad
Report
Ironically, this film deals with a worldwide outbreak, but it was produced before COVID. The major effect of this virus is a loss of memory. While it this could have been a scary disaster film, it focuses on one young couple (Jack O’Connell and Olivia Cooke). As is popular in current plotting, the story jumps back and forth in time. This serves to confound their memories even more. The duo has lovely chemisty and their performances are compelling. The pacing is intimate, which means it moves more slowly than necessary and it definitely could have used some cutting (her constant narration wasn’t needed). Still, the unfolding outcome is a tragic romance wrapped in a sci-fi drama.
Report
(Mauro Lanari)
The inextricable link between memory, amnesia and identity is more sci-fi than this film, and love stories also end due to organic or affective exhaustion, not just neuropsychological degradation. Is this the period of derivative movies from "Memento"?
Report
It’s like they took the most pretentious person alive and turned them into a movie. Being slow and quiet does not make someone interesting. I’m tired of being told to indulge in pompous people’s pet projects. If you like this movie, I’m sure you also enjoy the smell of your own farts.
Report
Production Company
Automatik Entertainment,
Black Bear,
Oddfellows Entertainment,
Tango Entertainment
Release Date Feb 5, 2021
Duration 1 h 41 m
Rating Unrated
Tagline Love is unforgettable.
Awards
Leo Awards
• 4 Nominations
Tribeca Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
