In the tradition of My Octopus Teacher, there seems to have wriggled into existence in the past few years a new genre of film designed to engender an enhanced connection to nature in viewers. I, for one, am here for it.
Should I find the spare time (I won’t) here are some of the diversions I’d love to tune into this weekend.
I was excited to learn that Remarkably Bright Creatures, the film adaptation of Shelby Van Pelt’s bestselling debut novel partially told from the perspective of an aquarium-bound octopus, is hitting Netflix today. Starring Sally Fields as Tova, a night-shift cleaner who establishes an improbable bond with the well-spoken cephalopod, the drama explores themes of loss, loneliness, and connection. Being on the back nine of life, prone to crying at the drop of a cinematic hat, and an erstwhile marine biologist, I am firmly embedded in the target demographic for this movie. I expect to enjoy it.
I also like plants. The film Silent Friend racked up awards at the Venice, Chicago International, and Valladolid International Film Festivals through the latter half of last year, was released in Germany in January, and it is now set to roll out to theaters and streaming platforms.
Read more: “Guided by Plant Voices”
Written and directed by Hungarian filmmaker Ildikó Enyedi, the historical drama’s central focus is a single ginkgo tree on the campus of the University of Marburg in Germany. Enyedi weaves together three separate human stories—of a neuroscientist dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic and asking questions about plant consciousness, of a turn-of-the-20th-century photographer enchanted by the botanical subjects of her still lives, and of a student in the 1970s tasked with caring for a friend’s geranium—the 200-year-old tree providing a consistent presence throughout. The idea that suffuses the film, according to the film’s trailer, is that plants may be observing us as we observe them, richer in sensorial ability than we typically appreciate. A stimulating, pleasant, and science-backed conceit that I can imagine curling up with for a couple hours.
If I still have a free moment (again, I will not) after watching these two movies, I plan on hunting down old BBC recordings of a show from the 1950s called Song Hunters. I learned of this radio collaboration between freshly minted centenarian Sir David Attenborough and famed folklorist Alan Lomax while writing about the former’s birthday this week. These recordings will be hard to find, as they aired live more than 70 years ago and may not be archived in any place save for Attenborough’s private collection. But listening to field recordings curated by these paragons of science communication could make anyone feel more connected to nature—human or otherwise. 
Lead image: Subtle Graphic / Adobe
