Why Everyone Is Raving About My Octopus Teacher, An Unbelievable Doco That Will Make You Weep

my octopus teacher

I have found the (temporary) cure for the bucketloads of stress this year has brought, and I need to share it with all of you. It’s a new Netflix documentary called My Octopus Teacher, which no one can seem to stop talking about. Ever thought you’d be sobbing about an octopus? Me neither. And yet, I did last night.

To put it simply, My Octopus Teacher is a documentary about one man’s unlikely friendship with an octopus. (She’s female but never named.)

Documentarian Craig Foster was burnt out and depressed, so decided to hit pause on his career and reconnect with nature. He made a pact with himself to swim every day in the freezing cold waters off Cape Town, South Africa, forgoing a wetsuit and scuba gear for bare skin and a snorkel.

(Fun fact: the kelp forests in which he swam are some of the most predator dense on Earth. Plus, the water drops to about eight degrees Celsius and you’re in just as much danger of being bashed against the rocks as you are of being eaten by a shark. You would not catch me in it for one second, so I’m very grateful this doco exists – for the colours ALONE.)

my octopus teacher netflix
Craig Foster swimming with his octopus friend. Photo: Netflix

One day, Foster came across an octopus camouflaged with nearby shells, a defensive position he wouldn’t fully understand for months. He began to visit her every day, forming a bond unlike anything you’ve probably seen before. They build up trust. They play. She lets Foster touch her with his human hands, and lets him follow her while she hunts. (Octopuses are pretty weak, muscle-wise, so must depend on their smarts to survive. Luckily, they are very, very intelligent.)

One day, she turns things on its head and follows Foster, swimming through the water.

“It’s the most incredible feeling, to be followed by an octopus,” Foster says in the doco.

In an interview with CNN, he expanded: “It’s not like you are in a Jeep and arrive upon a hunting scene on land. In the water it’s intimate. When she chooses to let you into her world … it’s a very, very special moment of not just being accepted, but that your presence to her also feels natural, like you belong in that space with her.”

my octopus teacher documentary
We stan an unnamed octopus. Photo: Netflix

I’m not going to spoil the doco for you, because it’s an absolute rollercoaster, but the entire 85-minute run will have you hooked. It’s edge of your seat stuff, and it’s literally about a man who goes swimming about an octopus. Watching it gave me a calming feeling similar to listening to ASMR: a relaxed yet hyper-emotional state. I can’t explain it, except to say this is probably a great film to drop a tab of acid and watch. (I do not condone this.)

The entire thing was filmed over eight years, but Foster’s relationship with the octopus lasted just a year.

Since then, he’s had otters, whales, cuttlefish, and sharks reach out to ‘make contact’, as it were, but nothing has come close to the bond he found with the octopus.

“What she taught me was to feel that you’re part of this place, not a visitor,” Foster said in the doco. “That’s a huge difference.”

I’m not the only one deeply affected by this film: it currently has a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In slightly less critically acclaimed news, I think it’s the only doco my sister has recommended to me in the last three years.

My Octopus Teacher is currently available on Netflix, and I recommend watching it immediately.

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