"She made me realize just how precious wild places are."

Starring: Craig Foster, Tom Foster, The Octopus

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★☆☆ - great

"A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien. But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realize that we're very similar in a lot of ways." - Craig Foster

Why watch this? You will be moved deeply by the wisdom and curiosity within this very intrepid cephalopod.

Plot Summary: This documentary follows filmmaker Craig Foster as he finds solace and purpose by diving daily into a South African kelp forest to observe marine life. During these dives, he forms an extraordinary connection with a curious octopus, visiting her daily and gaining her trust over the course of a year. This unique relationship becomes a source of profound learning and personal growth for Foster as he observes the octopus's intelligence, adaptability, and resilience in her natural habitat.

Dad's Preview: Is there a creature more unlike humans on the Earth? We are warm-blooded, they are cold. We are aliens in the ocean, they are home. We have bones, they are cartilage. In my arrogant ignorance, I never dreamed that octopuses (some say octopi) were anything more than a collection of barely-evolved cells that lurk the sea depths like other sea life - just a life form and nothing more. This gentle, soothing documentary by free-diver Craig Foster, has quite a bit more to add to that statement. In 2018, while exploring a kelp forest in False Bay, South Africa, he met a female octopus. What started as a chance encounter turned into a year-long relationship. She was curious and welcomed Craig into her murky world. This documentary's importance seems more necessary now than ever. In the madness of the world, with its media blitzes, political divisions and hectic paces, the soothing roll of a kelp bed or the gentle touch of an octopus' tentacle, is like medicine to calm our frayed nerves. This critically-acclaimed saga won the Oscar for Best Documentary and it also helped the director find peace, forming a deeper bond with his own son. 

Off The Fence, The Sea Change Project; Netflix