The Water Diviner

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The Water Diviner

R

2015

1h 52m

History

Drama

War

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

63%

Tomatometer

147 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

10,000+ Ratings

Four years after the Battle of Gallipoli, Australian farmer Joshua Connor travels to Turkey to find his three sons, who never returned home from the war. When he arrives in Istanbul, he meets others who have also suffered losses: hotelier Ayshe and her son, Orhan, who befriends Connor; and Major Hasan, a Turkish officer who fought against Connor's sons and now may be their father's only hope in finding closure.

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Critics Consensus

The Water Diviner finds Russell Crowe on somewhat uncertain footing as a director, but he's rescued by a strong performance from himself in the leading role.

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Udita Jhunjhunwala

Livemint

Aug 14, 2019

While Crowe the actor has impressive screen presence and conveys grief with subtlety, Crowe the director errs on the side of caution in this conservatively directed feature, which splutters along...

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Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

Apr 26, 2015

4.0

Indeed, this is the 51-year-old Crowe's first time as a movie director, but he's hardly a novice actor stepping behind the camera for some sort of vanity project.

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Bilge Ebiri

New York Magazine/Vulture

Apr 24, 2015

It's clear that Russell Crowe has poured his heart and soul into the historical romance The Water Diviner, his first feature as a director. If only the film were better.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

Aug 21, 2022

4.5/5

Crowe should be commended for giving the film a grand, near epic look and feel despite having a less than epic budget.

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Don Shanahan

Every Movie Has a Lesson

Mar 8, 2022

3/5

Crowe's film isn't gaudy war glorification towards a happy ending. This film is the acknowledgement of shared experience and shared loss between strangers that is tremendously noble, even with the sometimes over-dramatized story.

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Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

Feb 3, 2021

3/5

A sweeping historical drama about one man; a personal story set against a huge backdrop that studies a father's sorrow and a nation's tribulations.

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Phil D.

@phildub Feb 3, 2026

This was a complete film for me. I was in a bit of a bad mood and needed something light. Saw this was leaving HBO and decided to put it on. It wasn’t light, but emotional. Heart breaking and heart warming. Ups and downs throughout. Andrew Knight & Andrew Anastasios did a wonderful job. Russell Crowe surprised me. I didn’t realize he directed, and it was top notch. Cast was wonderful.

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Mark B

@Mbindon Jan 27, 2026

Beautiful to look a. Well acted the story / narrative is just dumb. So almost st enjoyable but overall dumb. So 3 stars as 3/4 of the movie I rnjoyed .

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Jelisije J

@jjosifovic Oct 11, 2025

An emotional journey of a father looking to find his missing sons in a foreign war torn land and comes to find himself reborn while closing the door of his painful past.

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Quinzy F

@Bobbiity Aug 24, 2025

Good movie. Runs a little slow at times but this is a great watch with the wife.

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Andrew G

@RT89925104 Aug 19, 2025

Great movie with a very interesting story line

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Apr 25, 2025

I was not prepared this movie ended up being way more emotional than I thought give Russell Crowe credit though for making his directorial debut and starring in his own role it's a constant reminder that war is just plain awful; no one wants it and when it happens all it does is create more violence and take people away from us all a father water digger sets out to find his sons that were dragged into the horrors of World War I in Turkey to find peace with his deceased wife this is a man that has high hopes and lets nothing bewilder him the landscape and exotic locales of Australia and Istanbul are a treasure despite a bloody conflict taking shape parents outliving their children is as much as curse as it is a blessing a man is defined by how much he loves his children not by his grit or his strength or victory in battle Crowe does a splendid job here battling the odds I ended up welling up a bit at least twice in this one it's very effective that the subject of war is always constant and brutal no matter what part of the world it takes place in solid, well-acted, and emotionally resonant on multiple levels even a decade later

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Russell Crowe

Director

Russell Crowe

Joshua Connor

Olga Kurylenko

Ayshe

Yilmaz Erdogan

Major Hasan

Cem Yilmaz

Jemal

Jai Courtney

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Synopsis

Four years after the Battle of Gallipoli, Australian farmer Joshua Connor travels to Turkey to find his three sons, who never returned home from the war. When he arrives in Istanbul, he meets others who have also suffered losses: hotelier Ayshe and her son, Orhan, who befriends Connor; and Major Hasan, a Turkish officer who fought against Connor's sons and now may be their father's only hope in finding closure.

Director: Russell Crowe
Producer: Andrew Mason, Keith Rodger, Troy Lum
Screenwriter: Andrew Knight, Andrew Anastasios
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Hopscotch Features, Fear of God Films
Rating: R (War Violence|Some Disturbing Images)
Genre: History, Drama, War
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 24, 2015, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 7, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $34.6M
Runtime: 1h 52m

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