''There's Something in the Water'' is a 2019 Canadian documentary film, directed by

Elliot Page Elliot Page (formerly Ellen Page; born February 21, 1987) is a Canadian actor, producer, and activist. He is known for his leading roles across Canadian and American film and television, and for his outspoken work as an activist for LGBTQ righ ...

and Ian Daniel."Nova Scotian stories of Environmental racism hit the big screen at TIFF in Ellen Page documentary"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', July 31, 2019. An examination of

environmental racism Environmental racism, ecological racism, or ecological apartheid is a form of racism leading to negative environmental outcomes such as landfills, Incineration, incinerators, and hazardous waste disposal disproportionately impacting Community ...

, the film explores the disproportionate effect of environmental damage on

Black Canadian Black Canadians () are Canadians of full or partial Afro-Caribbean or sub-Saharan African descent. Black Canadian settlement and immigration patterns can be categorized into two distinct groups. The majority of Black Canadians are descendants ...

and

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

communities in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

. The film takes its name from

Ingrid Waldron Ingrid R. G Waldron is a Canadian social scientist who is the HOPE Chair in Peace and Health in the Global Peace and Social Justice Program in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University. She co-produced the 2019 film '' There's Something in ...

's book on environmental racism, ''There's Something in the Water''.

Synopsis

The film begins by depicting conditions in the black community outside of

Shelburne, Nova Scotia Shelburne is a town located in southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. History Shelburne lies at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia, at roughly the same latitude as Portland, Maine, in the United States. The Mi'kmaq people, Mi'kmaq call the large an ...

, where a correlation between contaminated

well water A well is an excavation or structure created on the earth by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

and elevated rates of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

went unaddressed. The film also explores Indigenous communities in Nova Scotia such as

Pictou Landing First Nation Pictou Landing First Nations is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in Nova Scotia, Canada. Their territory spans five reserves that have a combined area of . As of September 2017, the Mi'kmaq population is 485 on their own reserve, 23 on oth ...

which was affected by

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of Body of water, water bodies, with a negative impact on their uses. It is usually a result of human activities. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and ...

in Boat Harbour and

Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation The Sipekne'katik First Nation is composed of four Mi'kmaq First Nations in Canada, First Nation Indian reserve, reserves located in central Nova Scotia. As of 2012, the Mi'kmaq population is 1,195 on-Reserve, and approximately 1,190 off-Reserve. ...

and his fighting against a gas company's plan to release

salt brine Brine (or briny water) is a high-concentration solution of salt (typically sodium chloride or calcium chloride) in water. In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawate ...

into the

Shubenacadie River The Shubenacadie River () is a river in Nova Scotia, Canada. It has a meander length of approximately 72 km from its source at Shubenacadie Grand Lake to its mouth at the community of Maitland on the Cobequid Bay. The lower 30 km of t ...

Production

The film was co-directed and produced by Elliot Page and Ian Daniel, who had previously worked together on the documentary series '' Gaycation''. Starting in April 2019, it was shot on location in

and includes interviews with various environmental activists from marginalized communities, along with archival news footage. Page made the film with $350,000 of his own money.

Release

The film premiered at the

2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...

Barry Hertz
"TIFF 2019: Toronto festival’s Canadian lineup a mix of familiar faces, exciting rookies and a starring role for David Cronenberg"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', July 31, 2019. and was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on March 27, 2020.

Reception

On the review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, of critic reviews are positive, and the average rating is . According to

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which sampled six critics and calculated a weighted average score of 62 out of 100, the film received "generally favorable reviews". Jordan Mintzer of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' gave a mostly positive review, concluding that "Made in a standard documentary format that includes a voiceover and a tad too much weepy music, ''Water'' gets its job done directly enough, underlining a situation that remains dire despite what seems to be a growing level awareness around the country." Partially as a result of the awareness the film raised, Canada’s House of Representatives passed a bill in March 2023 to address environmental racism. The bill received royal assent in June 2024.

References

External links

* * * {{Elliot Page 2019 films Canadian documentary films Documentary films about racism in Canada Documentary films about environmental issues 2019 documentary films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films English-language documentary films