The Weight of Water is a 2000 film based on the novel of the same name

The Weight of Water

The Weight of Water is a 1997 bestselling novel by Anita Shreve. Half of the novel is historical fiction that speculates about the true events of the Smuttynose Island murders of 1873.-Plot summary:...

 by Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve

Anita Shreve is an American writer. The daughter of an airline pilot and a homemaker, she graduated from Dedham High School, attended Tufts University and began writing while working as a high school teacher in Reading MA. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, was awarded...

. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Bigelow

Kathryn Ann Bigelow is an American film director. Her best-known films are the cult horror film Near Dark , the surfer/bank robbery action picture Point Break , the science fiction/film noir Strange Days , the historical/mystery film The Weight of Water and the war drama The Hurt Locker...

, the film stars Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...

, Elizabeth Hurley

Elizabeth Hurley

Elizabeth Jane Hurley is an English model and actress who became known as a girlfriend of Hugh Grant in the 1990s. In 1994, as Grant became the focus of worldwide media attention due to the global box office success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, Hurley accompanied him to the film's Los...

, Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley

Sarah Polley is a Canadian actress, singer, film director, and screenwriter. Polley first attained notice in her role as Sara Stanley in the Canadian television series, Road to Avonlea...

, Josh Lucas

Josh Lucas

Josh Lucas is an American actor. He has appeared in many films, including Glory Road, A Beautiful Mind, and Poseidon.-Early life:...

 and Catherine McCormack

Catherine McCormack

Catherine McCormack is an English actress, known for her stage acting as well as her screen performances in films such as Braveheart, Spy Game and Dangerous Beauty.- Early life :...

. Although it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

 in 2000, it was not released in the United States until November 1, 2002.

Plot summary

A newspaper photographer, Jean, travels to the Isles of Shoals

Isles of Shoals

The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of New Hampshire and Maine.- History :...

 with her husband Thomas, his brother Rich, and Rich's girlfriend to research the real-life murder of two women in 1873. In a twist of fate, Jean discovers archived papers that appear to give an account of the murders by the lone survivor, a Norwegian immigrant named Maren. The plot weaves between the narrative of these papers and Jean's private struggle with jealousy and suspicion as she suspects her husband of infidelity.

Awards and nominations

• 2000: Nominated - San Sebastián International Film Festival
  San Sebastián International Film Festival
  The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...
  
   – Golden Seashell for Kathryn Bigelow
• 2001: Winner - Film by the Sea International Film Festival – Film and Literature Award for Kathryn Bigelow