Fish Tank Movie Review
S. Jhoanna Robledo
Stark, powerful drama for older teens and adults. Read Common Sense Media's Fish Tank review, age rating, and parents guide.
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Common Sense Media
The world portrayed in FISH TANK is bleak and claustrophobic. Fathers are absent; mothers ignore their children; and children smoke, curse, and drink like their parents. Everyone struggles to survive, and connections with great potential are corrupted by circumstances and human frailty. But in writer-director Andrea Arnold's hands, it's a world that intrigues. She allows the story to unfold in its own time, refraining from cheapening the enterprise with frantic cuts and oppressive music, as other filmmakers sometimes do. She tells a tale we've heard before but with amazing dexterity.

What makes Mia and Connor's questionable-yet-palpable connection compelling and believable are the performances. Fassbender's Connor isn't so much lecherous as confused, unable to explain himself or his desires and intentions. And Jarvis, as Mia (her first movie role), astonishes, balancing longing with confusion and rage. Combative and insulting, Mia isn't all that likable. But we wish for her nothing but joy and escape. It's not a given she'll get either.