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
Christian Sparkes
Clayne Crawford, Frances Fisher, Aden Young, Alix West Leffler, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Michael Greyeyes
Canada
2023
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Credits
Screenwriter
William Woods, Albert Shin
Cinematography
Mike McLaughlin
Editor
Justin Oakey
Original Music
Andrew Staniland
Production Design
Adriana Bogaard
Also Playing
Misericordia
Edgy, eccentric, and unapologetically queer, this film goes from drama to comedy without putting a foot wrong. Sex and murder are the subjects, and writer-director Alain Guiraudie (Stranger by the Lake) mines them for suspense and outrageous laughs.
The Stand
This rousing doc explores a 1985 dispute over logging in the Haida Gwaii. Taking us from canny retrospective commentary to the thick of the action, director Chris Auchter employs animation and a wealth of archival footage to riveting effect.
Julie Keeps Quiet
When her coach falls under investigation for inappropriate behaviour, a young tennis ace is thrown into turmoil. Her reluctance to testify about her experience puts her at odds with the club, her parents and her friends.
Resident Orca
Captured in Puget Sound in 1970, killer whale Lolita spent the next half century in a cramped tank in Seaquarium, Miami. The film follows a coalition of Lummi elders, animal lovers and philanthropists on a rescue mission to return her to the ocean.