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6.2/10
Archivist John
Senior Editor
A definitive 6.2/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Daphnia remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have nine minutes and want to see something that looks like it’s from another planet but is actually in your backyard pond, Daphnia is worth the look.
Science nerds and people who like weird, trippy visuals will dig this.
If you need a plot or characters that talk, you’re gonna hate it and probably fall asleep. 😴
It’s basically a nature documentary by Jean Painlevé, but he’s not interested in lions or bears.
He wants to show you these tiny 'water fleas' that are only about 2 ml long.
The first thing that hits you is the magnification.
The screen says 150,000 times bigger, which is just insane to think about for a movie made back then.
You can see the muscles in their antennae pulsing like they’re breathing through their arms.
And the eye. Oh man, the eye.
It’s just one single eye in the middle of their head that turns in every direction.
It looks like a little marble rolling around in a socket of jelly.
I kept waiting for it to blink, but it never does. It just stares.
The movie is mostly just looking at their insides because they are totally clear.
You see the heart beating super fast—like several times a second fast.
It’s kind of stressful to watch, honestly.
There is this long line which is the intestine, and apparently, all these things are females.
The eggs just sit there right above the guts. 🥚
There’s a weirdly gross but cool part where a daphnia dies.
These even smaller things called infusoria show up and start cleaning out the dead one's stomach.
It’s like a tiny janitorial crew that shows up the second you kick the bucket.
Then the 'villain' appears: the hydra.
It moves so slow but it feels threatening because the music gets all serious.
It’s not exactly high-octane action like some other stuff we’ve seen lately.
Actually, it’s a lot more relaxing than watching Sunday Calm even though it’s literally about life and death.
Painlevé has this way of making the microscopic feel massive.
The way the blood globules move around looks like a busy highway.
I forgot I was looking at a bug for a second.
It’s just a very strange, quiet experience that makes you feel small.
The ending is a bit abrupt, just 'many remain,' and then it's over.
I think I liked it more than I expected to. It’s better than most things you’ll find on Netflix right now.
IMDb 4.2
1924
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