Waterland

Tom Crick, a troubled English-born Pittsburgh high school teacher in 1974, reassesses his life. He changes his teaching method and begins narrating his life to his class, weaving his personal history with England's history. His narration blends three generations and reshapes how history is taught in the classroom.

One day Crick comes home to find Mary has abducted a child from a woman in a supermarket, believing the child is hers and a gift from God. He helps Mary return the baby and urges her to seek counselling. After this incident, Mary leaves Crick and disappears.

Crick's present-day narration reveals the aftermath: Mary disappears and the marriage strains further. He then recalls their wartime romance and how past choices haunt his understanding of history. This event deepens Crick’s personal guilt and drives his storytelling.

During World War II, Crick recounts a teenage romance that Mary had with his older brother Dick. The relationship results in Mary becoming pregnant and an abortion that leaves her infertile. Crick feels deep guilt over these tangled past events and the jealousy surrounding Mary.

Amid the turmoil, Crick describes rumours during his adolescence that Dick could be the product of an incest between Mary and their grandfather, or that he might be the father of Mary's baby. These whispers intensify the tension between the brothers and shadow the family history. The truth remains elusive, feeding Crick’s sense of guilt and confusion.

To obtain an abortion, the characters seek a gypsy medicaster living by the riverbank. The procedure is performed and Mary becomes infertile as a result. This act seals the tragic arc of Mary’s fertility and deepens the family’s secretive past.

In the present, Crick continues teaching and gradually creates a vivid world in his classroom by narrating his life. Matthew Price, a thoughtful student, is the only pupil who seems to understand the deeper motive behind Crick’s personal history. Crick uses these memories to illuminate broader historical themes.

Crick explains his mother's life as a nurse in a manor that was converted into a psychiatric hospital after World War I. The hospital sits on land once owned by Crick's grandfather, a successful brewer and influential figure. This history ties the family to the region's social fabric.

Crick describes his grandfather’s status and the family’s connections, noting that his father Henry fought in the Great War. These memories situate the Crick family within The Fens’ wartime and social history. The generational strand helps explain the present tensions Crick faces in his life.

Crick recalls persistent rumors during adolescence that Dick was born from an incestuous relationship between Mary and the grandfather. The rumor colors the brothers' relationship and amplifies guilt and fear within the family. The tension remains unresolved in Crick’s memory.

As tensions mount, Dick murders Freddie Parr, whom he suspects is the father of Mary’s baby. He disposes of the body in the river, an act that triggers Tom’s confrontation with his brother. The murder heightens the family’s cycle of violence and secrecy.

Tom confronts Dick about Freddie’s murder and Dick threatens him with a beer bottle used in the killing. The confrontation drives Dick to a nervous breakdown, and he runs away, throwing himself into the water. Crick’s narration marks Dick’s drowning as the tragic culmination of the family saga.

Back in the present, Crick is dismissed from his job after complaints about his unorthodox teaching. In his last speech to the school auditorium, he speaks directly to Price, urging him to never lose hope in humanity’s future. The moment blends personal loss with a broader message about resilience.

Crick returns to the Fens to search for his estranged wife Mary, hoping for a possible reconciliation. Arriving by the lake, he sees Mary in the distance and walks toward her, while the ending leaves their reunion open to interpretation. The film closes on a note of ambiguous possibility.