Bro, grab a beer and sit down, because I've got a story that'll make you look at the city aquarium differently! An octopus, yeah, an octopus, has become the hottest thing on Netflix, and I wouldn't have believed it myself until I saw it with my own eyes. Its name is Marcellus, it's a giant Pacific octopus, and it's so smart you'd think it's an old-timer from Berceni who knows all the scams in the neighborhood. But let me start from the beginning.
About two or three years ago, an author named Shelby Van Pelt wrote a novel, "Remarkably Bright Creatures." That book sold over two million copies, bro, enough to buy half of Berceni! And now, in May, Netflix dropped the movie too, directed by a chick, Olivia Newman, with Sally Field in the lead role and Alfred Molina - yeah, the guy from "Spider-Man" - voicing the octopus. What more can I say, a killer cast!
The story is simple but grabs you by the heart: a widow, Tova, loses her husband and, to forget her troubles, takes a job scrubbing floors at an aquarium. Her son disappeared at sea 30 years ago when he was 18, and no one knows what happened. Until Marcellus, that clever octopus, starts playing detective. And, bro, he really knows what happened! It's an impossible friendship, but so beautiful it makes you cry like after a lost Steaua match.
The author said in an interview with HotNews that she wrote most of the book during the pandemic, when she was stuck at home with her kids and watched the neighbors through the window, just like Marcellus watched people through the glass wall of his tank. It reminded me of myself drinking coffee and watching the world from my balcony, like I was in an aquarium too. And guess what? Her agent's assistant wrote on the manuscript that it's "either brilliant or ridiculous." Well, that's me when I tell Mioara I'm gonna make money from crypto!
But the craziest part is that readers, after reading the book, said they won't eat octopus anymore. Seriously, bro! If I'd known they were this smart, maybe I'd have thought twice before ordering at a restaurant. Of course, the author says she didn't mean to moralize, that she eats animals too, but it's clear Marcellus gets under your skin. The director says the movie is about grief and connection, but also full of joy, it makes you laugh and cry. Just like a day in my life when the BMW doesn't break down and Mioara makes sarmale.
So, if you want to see something that'll make you quit seafood for a month and believe in impossible friendships, binge "Remarkably Bright Creatures" on Netflix. And if you don't like it, at least you'll have something to talk about at the terrace with the guys. Who's in, give me a sign, I'll put a bottle of wine, not octopus!
