My Octopus Teacher: Review

My Octopus Teacher is a 2020 Netflix Original documentary film directed by Pippa Ehrlich and James Reed, which documents a year spent by filmmaker Craig Foster forging a relationship with a wild common octopus in a South African kelp forest. Source

The tentative connection between this amazing creature and a burned out human grew from two things: his willingness to submerge (literally) into nature and his commitment to show up every single day for a whole year.

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I never expected to be moved to the point of tears by a documentary, nor to be as spiritually challenged as I was by it.

The messages of this stunning documentary are many, but there are a few stand out take-homes:

it is in depth of connection with another Being that we find the real magic;
our healing begins with an attitude of curiosity;
showing up every day is the beginning of transformation;
the sheer diversity and intelligence of nature is beyond our understanding;
our willingness to open to nature when we are burned out is the beginning of deep renewal;
that "nature" is, in fact, worlds within worlds;
that the sheer brilliance and beauty and intelligence of our ocean life is more than most of us have or can ever imagine.

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I was entranced by the giant, ancient kelp forests and have never seen anything quite like the spectacular underwater cinematography. And that's saying a lot from a girl who grew up watching Jaques Cousteau on TV on Friday nights.

The dramatic tension throughout the documentary was tight and stayed focused on the unraveling of fear, and the slow gaining of trust. A magic moment for me? The first time the octopus tentatively reached out to touch the human.

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My Octopus Teacher has won bags of awards, but perhaps the most prominent was the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2021.

I loved the lingering questions it left me with: How can we separate ourselves from the world we live in? And How can we even begin to protect the environment when we know so little about the creatures which inhabit it?

The first time that Forster says that the octopus is a lot like a human, it seems a massive stretch. But slowly and steadily he takes us through that journey of discovery. And we ultimately can only conclude that "they" is only and always a reflection of "I".