Sally Field befriends octopus in ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ teaser

March 10 (UPI) — A widow played by Sally Field forms an unlikely friendship with an octopus voiced by Alfred Molina in the teaser for Remarkably Bright Creatures.

Netflix released an official teaser trailer Tuesday for the film, which is directed by Olivia Newman and based on the book of the same name by Shelby Van Pelt.

“Humans, for the most part, are dull and blundering. But occasionally, you can be remarkably bright creatures,” Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus voiced by Molina, says in the teaser.

The film also stars Lewis Pullman, Colm Meaney, Joan Chen, Kathy Baker, Beth Grant and Sofia Black D’Elia.

“Remarkably Bright Creatures follows Tova (Field), a lonely widow who finds joy again when she forms an unlikely bond with a giant Pacific octopus at the aquarium where she works, and a wayward young man, Cameron (Pullman), who comes to town in search of family. Together, they uncover a mystery that will lead them to a life-changing discovery and restore their sense of wonder,” the official synopsis reads.

Van Pelt told Netflix’s Tudum that the idea for the novel started with a YouTube rabbit hole and a creative writing exercise.

“One of the places where I was able to find a really good character was on YouTube, watching videos of naughty octopuses that were escaping from their enclosures, or just getting up to antics in aquariums,” she said. “I remember thinking that would be such a fun voice to write, such a fun character to harness. The character of Marcellus came out of a little vignette that I wrote in a continuing education class.”

The screenplay was written by Newman and John Whittington. Newman and Van Pelt executive produce alongside Erika Hampson, Alisa Tager, Tony Lipp and Alyssa Rodrigues.

Remarkably Bright Creatures debuts May 8 on Netflix.