The King Tide

They call her “Isla”. The miracle baby found alive in an upturned boat. Ten years later, Isla is still working miracles in this small fishing village off Newfoundland — healing ailments, summoning a bumper catch — and the community’s only real anxiety is that no one from the mainland should get wind of their good fortune. But what of the child herself, who is looking out for her? Adoptive father Bobby (Clayne Crawford) is also the mayor. If his loyalties are torn it’s his mother-in-law, Isla’s grandmother Faye (Frances Fisher), who really pulls the strings.

The second outstanding release of the spring from St Johns filmmaker Christian Sparkes (Sweetland — also showing at the VIFF Centre) is a roiling supernatural fable with shades of Stephen King. Isla’s so innocent she can work miracles in her sleep. But there’s trouble brewing on the horizon and no-one — not even Isla — can foretell the future.

Working from a screenplay by Albert Shin and William Woods, Sparkes crafts a moody Gothic spell, but holds enough back that the film never tumbles into cliché or hackneyed horror conventions. Rather, it paints a dark but plausible portrait of a small, insular community that can’t help but tear itself apart.

The King Tide will wash over you with the power of a great novel.

Globe and Mail

With potent performances and a gorgeous, textured aesthetic, The King Tide proves a mesmerizing experience.

Jared Mobarak, The Film Stage