Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.5

Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 31, 2026

Andrea Arnold's "Fish Tank" (2009) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films. The supplemental features on the release include exlcusive new program with star Katie Jarvis; new program with actress Rebecca Griffiths; archival cast interviews; short film; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Andrea Arnold's latest film, Fish Tank, is about a fifteen-year-old girl, Mia (Katie Jarvis), who lives in a tough, poverty-ridden Essex estate. She does not have any friends and thinks that her luck is terrible. She is hurt and, most of the time, angry.

Mia lives in a cheap flat with her little sister, Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths), and mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing, It's a Free World…), who also looks angry - at least when she isn’t drunk. They don’t talk to each other. When they must communicate, they scream. Most of their neighbors do the same. Mia, Tyler, and Joanne have a dog that does not seem to mind.

Mia spends most of her time on the streets. She fights, drinks, and often dreams about being a dancer. Like most girls her age, she likes hip-hop, the American kind. Mia hopes that one day she could win an important dance contest - and then move away from Essex.

Out of the blue, Mia's mother comes home with Connor (Michael Fassbender, Hunger), an athletic, soft-spoken guy with a day job, who likes having fun. At first, Mia does not care about him, but after he takes her on a short trip to a nearby river together with her mother and sister, she warms up to him. He moves in to live with Joanne, and a couple of nights later, Mia has sex with him.

Mia thinks that it is love. Connor is convinced that it was a mistake. He attempts to explain to her that a fifteen-year-old girl cannot be in love with a man his age, but she does not understand why. “What does it matter if you like someone?” Mia asks.

It matters to Connor, and he goes back to his old place. Joanne is devastated, and so is Mia. She goes after Connor and breaks into his house — only to discover that he has a wife and daughter. Now hurting even more than before, Mia decides to teach Connor a lesson he will never forget.

The title of Arnold's latest film, Fish Tank, could not have been any more appropriate for the type of story it tells. Mia lives in a part of Essex which she hates but cannot escape - a giant fish tank of sorts where she is a small fish, swimming in circles. The people around Mia also live in their own fish tanks. Like her, they are hurt and angry, unable to escape poverty and all the drama that typically follows it.

Despite its gloomy and genuinely unsettling tone, however, Fish Tank is not a film on a mission to educate its viewers about Essex, or those who live there. There are no powerful social statements in it. There are certainly no serious political accusations flying around either.

Rather, Fish Tank is about real people reacting to real issues. People who make mistakes and do things you, I, and everyone else around us would do if we were placed in the same fish tank they share, with limited resources and no way of getting out of it.

The film ends abruptly, without providing some sort of logical closure to its story. Mia makes an important decision and then does what she should have probably done a long time ago. Again, she is hurt, but this time she is hopeful. Perhaps things would change. Perhaps they won’t. It is time she finds out.

Newcomer Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, is outstanding. Her acting is raw and unpretentious, simply perfect for Fish Tank. Michael Fassbender is also incredibly convincing as the handsome friend-lover, who breaks two hearts at once.

In 2009, Fish Tank won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. During the same year, it also won the Best Director and Most Promising Newcomer (Katie Jarvis) awards at the British Independent Film Awards. In 2010, Fish Tank also won a BAFTA Film Award for Outstanding British Film.

Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Fish Tank arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Imprint Films.

All releases of Fish Tank -- we have reviews of the American and British releases -- are sourced from the same master, which is outstanding. This master produces incredibly sharp, wonderfully detailed, clear visuals that now rival the type of quality we have come to expect from 4K Blu-ray releases. In fact, a few nights ago, I upscaled this release to 4K, and I could not see any areas where a possible 4K Blu-ray release, sourced directly from the 35mm camera negative, could introduce meaningful improvements. Even color reproduction and the dynamic range of the visuals look sensational. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I revisited the film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. All dialogue is clear and very easy to follow. However, dynamic variety is difficult to praise. The sound design incorporates plenty of organic sounds and noises, and various areas silence is left as is, too. Obviously, all of this is intentional, and the 5.1 track, while preferable, is not a vastly superior option to view the film with.

Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Dancing Queen - in this exclusive new program, actress Katie Jarvis explains how she was discovered by Andrea Arnold and describes her audition for Fish Tank, which included several dances, and comments on the production process. Jarvis also reveals that she was not handed a full screenplay and the character she played and some of her troubles were replicated in her real life. In English, not subtitled. (30 min).

• Growing Up On Set - in this exclusive new program, actress Rebecca Griffiths explains how she was cast to play her character in Fish Tank and recalls her interactions with Andrea Arnold and other members of her team. Griffiths also comments on the behavior of her character, whose role in the film she fully understood years later. In English, not subtitled. (17 min).

• The Dance Scene - presented here is raw footage from the filming of the crucial dancing scene. In English, not subtitled. (10 min).

• Interviews with the Cast - presented here are several archival interviews with cast members discussing their characters and work in Fish Tank. The interviewees are Michael Fassbender, Katie Jarvis, Keirston Wareing, and Rebecca Griffiths. In English, not subtitled. (18 min).

• Wasp (2003) - this award-winning short film tells the story of a single young mother, Zoe (Natalie Press), who decides to take a chance and go out with a man (Danny Dyer) she has not seen in years. In English, not subtitled. (25 min).

• Stills - a large collection of stills from Fish Tank. Silent. (9 min).

• Trailer - the original theatrical trailer for Fish Tank. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Fish Tank Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

While Fish Tank reaches Australia rather late, this recent release treats it right and brings two exclusive new programs, one of them with its star, Katie Jarvis, who reveals how in her real life she went through a lot that her character did. I revisited the film a few nights ago and still think that it is fantastic. If you do not yet have a copy of it in your library, consider grabbing this Region-Free release, or another one in your region. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.