The engaging and now Oscar-nominated documentary “My Octopus Teacher” is a beautiful, moving, and reflective experience. It’s also a little crazy and doesn’t do much to hide its aggressive tugs on your heartstrings. This Netflix Original from co-directors Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed has garnered a lot of praise since its September release on the streaming giant’s platform. It’s easy to see why.

The film is more or less a reflection of a middle-aged man named Craig Foster. He tells the story of his encounter and unlikely ‘friendship’ with a small octopus just off the coast in West Cape, South Africa. For over 325 straight days, Craig would visit a small underwater kelp forest in an area called “The Cape of Storms”. There lived a female common octopus (Octopus Vulgaris if you go by its funky binomial name). Over the course of his daily visits an unlikely yet amazing bond forms, one that genuinely transforms this man’s life.

Image Courtesy of Netflix

We don’t get much in terms of backstory, only that Craig grew up in the ocean but left as an adult to pursue documentary filmmaking. During a film shoot in the Central Kalahari Desert he meets some indigenous master trackers intimately in-tune with nature in a way he once was. 18 years pass and Craig sits at a crossroads, losing his faith in himself and watching his relationship with his family suffer. So he heads back to West Cape, to the place where he felt so connected to the bigger world as a boy.

Craig begins his dives into the cold waters with no wetsuit and no oxygen tank – just swim trunks, flippers, snorkel, and a camera. There he meets the octopus who slowly becomes comfortable with his presence. Before long the fear and apprehension vanishes and the documentary turns into a surreal underwater buddy movie of sorts. Some of the sweetest images emerge as the two grow closer and the octopus shows affection perhaps never seen from an animal known for being anti-social.

At the same time the waters are full of predators, namely swarming Pajama Sharks. Craig’s firm belief in the natural order keeps him from intervening once his octopus friend finds herself in peril. It’s an admirable position but one that raises some fascinating moral-ish questions, especially during the scenes where Craig sits back and films the octopus’ fight for survival. Would it hurt if a bigger human predator ran off the smaller predator? Does attracting the octopus with his presence contribute to the creature’s vulnerability? Does Craig owe it to his underwater friend to protect her if she’s out of her safe place to see him?

Image Courtesy of Netflix

One thing you’ll immediately notice is that “My Octopus Teacher” features some truly exquisite ocean photography. The film is masterfully shot by DP Roger Horrocks, a nature doc veteran whose camera creates a vivid underwater tapestry of sea-life that encompasses so much more that just one man and a mollusc. Equally transporting is the elegant score by documentary composer Kevin Smuts. It’s hard not to be swept away by the look and sounds that really emphasize the subtle majesty of the setting and the emotional undercurrent to the story.

“My Octopus Teacher” clocks in at just a little over 80 minutes but it packs a lot of heart and goodwill into that short running time. As I said, the whole thing is a little crazy and it would be hard to believe if this weren’t a documented true story. Strangeness aside, there’s also a lot of sincerity and personal feeling behind Craig’s story. You genuinely believe this was a life-changing experience for this man and the film’s final scenes with Craig and his son really bring that truth home. “My Octopus Teacher” is now streaming on Netflix.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

Two families from two completely different worlds collide in Bettina Oberli’s biting satire “My Wonderful Wanda”. The Swiss film had its world premiere at Tribeca where it won a special jury mention in the Nora Ephron Award category. Now this prickly yet often witty dramedy makes it way to the States sporting a wacky “Knives Out” vibe but with a distinct European flavor.

The story (co-written by Oberli and Cooky Ziesche) centers around a Polish single mother named Wanda (played by a well measured Agnieszka Grochowska). She works as a caretaker for Josef Wegmeister-Gloor (André Jung), a 70-year-old family patriarch who was left paralyzed following a severe stroke. Her unique arrangement with the Wegmeister-Gloor family has her traveling to their lakeside villa in Switzerland where she stays for a month or so before going back to her village in Poland to tend to her two young boys. Leaving her sons is tough but she needs the money and the wealthy Wegmeister-Gloors pay well even if they don’t always appreciate ‘the help’.

Image Courtesy of Kino Lorber

It doesn’t take long to notice the movie’s interest in class and it becomes a central theme that runs throughout Oberli’s ‘three chapters and an epilogue’ structure. Wanda and the Wegmeister-Gloors exist on opposite ends of the social and economic ladders – something Wanda is constantly reminded of by her casually insensitive and often oblivious employers. Yet despite the varying degrees of blue-blooded haughtiness in the Wegmeister-Gloor household, Wanda’s presence highlights how empty their lives have become. And when a particular part of her ‘care’ for Josef leads to her becoming pregnant with his child, the upper-crust rancor really kicks in.

While Wanda is the main character, the Wegmeister-Gloor ménage all have key roles to play and each come with their own individual complexity. Josef is a youthful spirit trapped inside a failing body and he likes Wanda more than his own family (“Don’t leave me with these lunatics,” he pleads). Yet his ‘affection’ for her always comes second to his own sense of privilege. Josef’s wife Elsa (Marthe Keller) genuinely cares for her family but is far too adsorbed in their social standing. “We have a reputation to uphold,” she declares after hearing of Wanda’s pregnancy. Their jittery son Gregor (Jacob Matschenz) is the reluctant heir to his father’s company, but is far more interested in birdwatching and Wanda. Then there’s the snobbish and entitled daughter Sophie (Birgit Minichmayr) who only seem to care about her inheritance and who callously refers to Wanda as “the Pole” whenever she’s not around.

Image Courtesy of Kino Lorber

Considering all of that, you would expect this to be a movie with a clear-cut hero and villains. After all, Wanda is a woman just trying to take care of her family while the Wegmeister-Gloors exude an air of superiority. But Oberli smartly keeps from overtly vilifying anyone. The film clearly (and rightly) sets our sympathies with Wanda. But even she makes some icky decisions that are hard to get behind. So we end up with an assortment of richly layered characters. Some we want hug, others we want to (figuratively) choke. But most importantly we understand them because Oberli and Ziesche take time and allow them to be more than one-note character types.

Things get pretty crazy in the last chapter when Wanda’s parents and her two sons pay a surprise visit to the Wegmeister-Gloor estate. It’s here that the movie’s clash of class and culture goes full-frontal. Yet (as with everything else in the film) Oberli keeps it all in check, never allowing things to go over-the-top and never losing the all-important human element. And as everything comes to a head, the film’s comical and combative vibes gives way to a overarching sense of sadness and uncertainty. It makes for a fitting finish to a movie that (for the most part) succeeds in blending levity and solemnity. “My Wonderful Wanda” opens April 23rd in select cities.

VERDICT – 4 STARS