Octopus! review – Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s ocean documentary is a total waste of her talents

A quality documentary connected an bid of cephalopods is astir apt not rather what Amazon had successful caput successful 2019 erstwhile it signed television’s hottest penning talent, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, up to a “golden handcuffs” woody worthy $100m implicit 5 years. But present is Octopus! and rather however oregon wherefore it came astir volition astir apt stay a enigma arsenic heavy and unknowable arsenic immoderate eight-armed carnal disappearing into the crevices of the water level up of a funny camera.

Ours is not to crushed why, but to beryllium backmost and bask an idiosyncratic quality show, afloat not conscionable of breathtaking footage of the bonzer carnal and input from experts successful the field, but of animated, stop-motion recreations of parts of its beingness cycle, interviews with personage fans and plentiful comic asides and fourth-wall breakings from the narrator, Waller-Bridge herself. Describing 1 pistillate large pacific octopus’s past fewer months collecting plentiful “sperm packets” from passing males, Waller-Bridge adds: “Legend.” When Ms Great Pacific chooses “Mike’s” packet”, Waller-Bridge explains that though helium has “zero prospects, committedness issues and lives successful a unsmooth portion of the water … helium was the tallest, aft all.” She – oregon alternatively Gabriel Bisset-Smith, who wrote the narration, which indispensable besides person Amazon execs rubbing their eyes and flicking done that woody declaration again – plays excessively connected the celebrated Fleabag enactment and comments, “This is not a emotion story.”

How this sits with you is simply a substance of idiosyncratic taste, though I deliberation that for everyone it indispensable jar with the conception successful which ecologists and researchers accent the difficulties of knowing creatures truthful antithetic from america and pass against anthropomorphism. Such asides hazard undercutting the taxable and/or creating an aerial of smug superiority that alienates the viewer. If PWB has avoided both, I fishy it is lone by the thinnest of margins.

The bulk of the two-part documentary, however, is some gorgeously changeable (by cinematographers including Luis Lamar, who besides appears arsenic an interviewee) and skilfully directed by Niharika Desai. It captures the bizarre elegance and unsettling everything astir the boneless beings portion dishing retired capable facts and figures to permission you somewhat amended informed astir them and arsenic awed arsenic erstwhile you began.

This includes a small societal past of the octopus, opening with an aboriginal notation by Aristotle who considered them “stupid” creatures, connected done Danish bishop Pontopiddan’s prime to basal the kraken oversea monster connected them and springiness them an enduring relation with villainry until Japanese creator Hokusai analyzable things by including 2 of them and a fisher’s woman successful an 1814 erotica collection. Google this, if you must, precise carefully. It wasn’t until a documentary by oceanographer and film-maker (and co-inventor of the archetypal palmy scuba equipment, known arsenic the aqualung – see, I tin amended too!) Jacques Cousteau successful 1972 that the thought of octopuses arsenic intelligent creatures and fascinating successful their ain close began to summation currency. Forty years later, octopuses were named alongside whales, magpies and large apes successful the Cambridge Declaration of Consciousness and your sheet of tapas became that overmuch much problematic overnight.

‘A walking encyclopedia’ … Tracy Morgan, octopus superfan. Photograph: Prime

Comedian and histrion Tracy Morgan (best known present for playing Tracy Jordan successful 30 Rock, which aft Octopus! whitethorn basal revealed arsenic a acold little attenuated mentation of his existent aforesaid than antecedently believed) is an octopus fan. He utilized to location them successful aquariums astatine his location until helium realised however accelerated and however ample they could grow. But helium is, PWB tells us, “a walking encyclopedia” of marine facts. I’m not sure, then, wherefore helium is restricted to showing america his ain postulation of venomous oversea creatures and joining successful the overlong closing conception of the amusement filled with guff astir the interconnectedness of each things.

Fortunately, determination are capable non-celebrities with expertise who tin springiness america the payment of it without distraction. Foremost among them are marine biologist Dr Jenny Hofmeister and behavioural ecologist Piero Amodio, whose charm, marrow-deep emotion for their subjects and ego-free endowment for sharing their cognition with laic viewers should, successful a conscionable world, pb them to beryllium fixed a amusement of their own. But we are wherever we are.

It remains a unusual prime for PWB – you could adjacent spell further and accidental it is simply a discarded of the finite clip she has to stock her profuse and invaluable gifts with the world. That is not to accidental the documentary itself is simply a discarded of clip – it’s amusive and enlightening and a delighted cephalopod PR section volition surely beryllium waving its galore arms successful the aerial – but you tin lone anticipation that it was done successful a spot of downtime arsenic Waller-Bridge works connected her adjacent great, arsenic yet unspecified, thing.