Don’t worry, this octopus won’t spray ink in your face.

In the new Netflix drama “Remarkably Bright Creatures,” we get some “Black Beauty” narration from Alfred Molina speaking as the thoughts of Marcellus, a disenchanted octopus at a local aquarium. He hates all the kids poking and licking the tank and spitting their gum on the floor, but there’s at least two humans he grows attached to. I think this octopus is smarter than the dogs with the internal thoughts presented in “A Dog’s Journey” or “A Dog’s Way Home,” because he doesn’t think like a creature, but a character with real thoughts and feelings.

Based on Shelby Van Pelt’s book and written and directed by Olivia Newman (“Where the Crawdads Sing”), “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is a corny, but good-hearted film with some likable performances and a spirit that almost splices the qualities of “Free Willy” and “Black Beauty” together.

The two main human characters in the film are the aquarium’s cleaning lady and a struggling young musician, who arrives in her small town. Sally Field plays the cleaning lady named Tova Sullivan, who went through a tragedy, which is why she has no fun with her friends (Joan Chen, Beth Grant, and Kathy Baker) and why she doesn’t check herself in the retirement home her deceased husband reserved for her. And Lewis Pullman plays the young man named Cameron Cassmore, who is trying to find his absent father, finds out his band is going on a hiatus, and needs the aquarium job to pay his car trouble.

Tova has a “Free Willy” moment with him, as she teaches him how to clean up the aquarium as her ankle is injured. Her philosophy to the young man is “There’s a right way and a wrong way.” And they both see the flexibility inside Marcellus, who is always escaping from his tank due to his invertebrate body and long for the ocean. He can’t get as far, not because of the cliche of the employees putting him back in his tank, but because he can’t survive too long without water. In fact, when he gets caught in some plugs under a desk, he’s able to see that Tova is a kind woman.

And there’s also the kind Irish shopkeeper Ethan (Colm Meaney), who always enjoys Tova shopping at his store at night and introduces Cameron the aquarium job. And the young man does take a liking to a paddle board instructor named Avery (Sofia Black D’Elia). But the story is mostly about how these two individuals must find themselves in their own personal tragedies, and how this octopus is able to see through their flaws as well as his own.

Yes, it can be corny and not every supporting character gets much screen time as they should (especially Avery), but it doesn’t have to behave like it is. It likes Field and Pullman’s characters and the octopus, and it wants us to like them, too. And we do like them for their own personal aspects and how the two human’s chemistry might make them more than friends. And no, there’s no romance between them. And we also get some nice narration from Molina, who reflects his personality into Marcellus, and doesn’t try to steal the picture.

Octopuses have three hearts, and I guess “Remarkably Bright Creatures” likes to have as much hearts as they do. So, that would be twice this week that we get two animal movies with smart creatures and humans. “The Sheep Detectives” is in theaters and one of the best family films of the year, while “Remarkably Bright Creatures” is on Netflix and definitely worth a sit down. And this Sunday is Mother’s Day, so it all makes sense.

Now Streaming on Netflix