An Octopus Documentary That’s Not Really About Octopuses (And Definitely Not a Documentary)

You know that feeling when you hit play expecting a nature documentary — majestic underwater shots, soothing narration, maybe David Attenborough whispering about tentacles — and instead you get... something else entirely? Yeah. That’s what this is.

Something undefined — and that’s me being generous.

It presents itself as a documentary about octopuses, and your brain immediately gears up for a classic wildlife piece, BBC or National Geographic style. But nope — it’s something completely different. A thing.

It starts from the (fair) assumption that everyone is fascinated by octopuses. And so this fascination is told through a quirky bunch of characters who love them in their own weird ways: a comedian, an American researcher, an Italian biologist, a filmmaker, and a fisherman. It’s all shot like a fashion editorial or a magazine report, sprinkled with jokes, comic scenes, and bits of science.

I even watched it in the original language, and honestly, I still don’t know what the creators were going for.

I have to admit, at first, it’s kind of charming. Just watch the first five minutes — it kicks off with World Cup matches and the legendary octopus Paul. It’s light and entertaining, at least initially. But for me, that charm wears off after about half an hour.

As for real, original footage of octopuses underwater? There’s barely any. Maybe just the hatching of a Pacific octopus’s eggs. The rest? Stock footage. Apart from some shaky sand shots filmed in Mexico by the Italian researcher with a GoPro, there’s nothing authentic.

And to tell the story of this imaginary octopus, they even used stop-motion puppets. Original, sure — but also clearly a budget choice. Otherwise, they’d have had to do it properly, like the BBC Natural History Unit.

So yeah, a very strange product. Not terrible, but... definitely having an identity crisis.

For a more professional review:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/may/08/octopus-review-phoebe-waller-bridge-documentary-prime-video