Netflix Instant Movie of the Week: ‘Fish Tank’

Are you still trying to figure out how Michael Fassbender has been able to take the world by storm so quickly? For a man that has 38 credits to his name on IMDB, he has taken Hollywood by storm only recently. Sure he had 300 back in the day, but I doubt many people watched that performance and declared The Fass as somebody to look out for in the future. For anybody who had watched it, it was quite apparent from Hunger that he was going places. Soon after that, he was feature in yet another indie film that showcased his talents, and that film was Fish Tank.

Despite spending the entire paragraph on Fassbender, he is only a supporting character this time around. The movie itself focuses on Mia, a rebellious 15-year-old played by Kate Jarvis. Mia’s relationship with her mother is shaky at best, but once her mom’s new boyfriend (Fassbender) starts spending more time at the house, the more Mia’s life changes. The chemistry between Fassebender and Jarvis is fantastic. Jarvis was marvelous in the lead role, and it’s quite disappointing that this remains the only film that the young lady has done.

The real star of this movie has to be writer and director Andrea Arnold, however. An Oscar winner for the short film Wasp, she has moved to full length feature films the past few years, including last year’s Wuthering Heights, which was received quite well at the Venice Film Festival. Arnold’s writing and directing is able to strip the characters down to their very core, which helps create a surprising amount of tension. Overall, the amount of talent on display here is simply incredible, and it’s not a film that you will quickly forget. Click here to watch the movie.