Remarkably Bright Creatures, the newest feature film from Olivia Newman '12, is set to premiere on Netflix on May 8, 2026. To celebrate the premiere, the film will also enjoy a brief theatrical release at the Paris Theater from May 8 to May 14, 2026. The hotly anticipated film has already been nominated for two 2026 Gotham TV Awards including Outstanding Original Film and Outstanding Performance for the film's star, Academy Award-winner Sally Field.
Based on the New York Times-bestselling novel of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures follows widow and aquarium nightshift worker Tova Sullivan. The lonely Sullivan forms an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus and a wayward young man (Lewis Pullman), and together they uncover a mystery which will change each of their lives forever.
Newman is practiced in the world of novel-to-screen adaptation. Back in 2022, she made waves with her wildly popular adaptation of another best selling novel, Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
In an exclusive interview with Collider she shared, "It was really important to me that the movie stay true to the emotional heart and tone of the book. Although Remarkably Bright Creatures addresses themes of grief, loss and longing for connection, there is also this wonderful humor and wit that comes through each character’s unique perspective and voice." Newman worked hard to maintain "levity while staying grounded in the human drama at the core of the story."
Olivia Newman is an award-winning writer/director whose films have screened at festivals internationally, including the New York Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, and the Vancouver International Film Festival, among others. A 2015 participant in the Sundance Directors Lab and the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, her script for First Match was a quarter finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship and a winner of the 2015 Columbia University Blue List competition. Olivia is an alum of IFP’s No Borders International Co-Production Forum, IFP/Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Visions program. Olivia´s debut feature film First Match starring Elvire Emanuelle, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Colman Domingo, and Jharrel Jerome premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, and was released by Netflix in 2018.
