The King Tide

The King Tide is a Canadian drama film, directed by Christian Sparkes and released in 2023.^[1]

The film is set in a small island fishing village where a child turns up who has special, mystical powers, leading social order in the town to the brink of civil war as the residents disagree about whether the child was sent for a larger spiritual purpose.^[2]

Infant Isla turns up one day in a shipwrecked boat, and is adopted and raised by the town's mayor Bobby Bentham (Clayne Crawford) and his wife Grace (Lara Jean Chorostecki), whose pregnancy ended in miscarriage shortly before Isla's discovery. However, it is soon discovered that Isla has healing powers to cure any ailment suffered by those who are near her; swarms of fish also swim to her when she's in the water, thus protecting the town's food security because it guarantees that the local fishermen will always be able to catch fish they had long lost to larger corporate fishing boats from the mainland.

Bobby, Grace and Grace's mother Faye (Frances Fisher) exploit Isla's power by carefully controlling access to her, essentially cementing their own status as the most powerful members of the community, but setting the town's doctor Beau (Aden Young) against them as Isla's power has essentially left him unemployed.

Ten years later, when a tragedy occurs that Isla (Alix West Lefler) was unable to prevent, social order in the town begins to break down as the residents become starkly divided on how to deal with the situation.

The cast also includes Ryan McDonald, Emily Piggford and Michael Greyeyes.^[2] The film was shot in Newfoundland and Labrador in fall 2022.^[2]

The film had its premiere in the Platform Prize program at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival on September 11.^[1] It was also invited at the 28th Busan International Film Festival in 'World Cinema' section and was screened on 7 October 2023.^[3]

It was awarded Best Feature and Best Editor at the 2023 Atlantic International Film Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

It is set to have a limited theatrical release on April 26, 2024 in Canada and the United States. ^[4]

Jared Mobarak of The Film Stage wrote that "with potent performances and a gorgeous, textured aesthetic, The King Tide proves a mesmerizing experience above and below its surface. The camerawork keeps the horrors that unravel mostly to our imagination so we can continue to look at reactions rather than results. The terror here isn’t in just how powerful Isla is, but in what an infected groupthink that loses its grip on decency is willing to do in her name to unwittingly push her into discovering the full breadth of those abilities. When is enough finally enough? When does protection become harm? Because the love they all have for Isla isn’t for her; it’s for the people she’s allowed them to become."^[5]

Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "whether the characters are forthright or devious, all the performances are in sync with the rugged seclusion of the setting, as is the rustic-meets-old-timey aesthetic of the production design (by Adriana Bogaard) and costumes (Charlotte Reid). Against the wild natural beauty, calls for “solidarity” are coded warnings against dissent, and promises of “a safe place” are, as Beau drunkenly and accurately declares, a load of crap. But whatever punishment he faces, he’s made sure to give two wide-eyed kids a glimpse of a bigger world."^[6]

The film employs many literary devices and themes such as magical realism and Neo-Luddism, the rejection of technology and globalization.^[7][8]

• The King Tide at IMDb