The King Tide, which premiered Monday at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a moving parable that is especially relevant today. A fantastic phenomenon reveals unfortunately relevant human behavior, with or without magic.
On an isolated island, Bobby (Clayne Crawford) rescues a baby from a sunken ship. Bobby and his wife, Grace (Lara Jean Chorostecki), raise the girl, Isla (Alix West Lefler). Isla presents powers to cure the island's residents of injuries and illnesses and help the island's crops thrive. She is seen as a blessing until the residents become too possessive of her.
Director: Christian Sparkes
Writers: Kevin Coughlin, Ryan Grassby, Albert Shin
Stars: Frances Fisher, Clayne Crawford, Lara Jean Chorostecki
Isla finally loses her powers. When Bobby suggests giving Isla a break, like any reasonable parent would, the city overrules him and the situation escalates from there. Isla's powers are those of a magical macguffin that requires no special effects to depict. The people simply get better and the island prospers.
The reaction of Bobby and Isla's neighbors reveals the dark side of human nature. It would be relevant in any era, but recent years have highlighted how quickly people can prioritize their own desires over social needs.
The islanders then create more problems and fail to realize that her stubbornness and meddling guarantee that they will lose Isla. Her dependence on her drives them to despair. There's also the proverb "If you love something, set it free," which Sting extrapolated to "someone" in a song. Being possessive of another person, let alone a child, never ends well.
Plus, Isla is at the age where she starts asking questions. Adults can't control her forever, but they shouldn't try anyway. Crawford is fair in her portrayal of a concerned father. Even Chorostecki plays a conflicted mother who would consider selling her own daughter for the greater good.
Grace doesn't want to just leave the island like Bobby suggests. She is confident that everything will return to normal if they cooperate for now. Clinging to “normal” sounds very familiar and foreign to the nature of your neighbors' demands.
As Faye, Grace's mother, Frances Fisher plays someone with that kind of entitlement who comes across as a friendly face. She is Isla's grandmother and, of course, loves Isla, but she believes that it is not fair that the elders cannot access her powers whenever they want.
The cast includes Aden Young, Michael Greyeyes, Kathryn Greenwood, Ryan McDonald, Ben Stranahan and Amelia Manuel, each of whom portray varying degrees of desire and misgivings about the use of Isla. Cameron James Niccol plays another child on the Island who feels protective of Isla, but fights to protect her from the adults.
The King Tide takes deliberate time to escalate the situation. It's a slow process, but so is life, generally, although lately it has changed much more rapidly than usual. Look for distribution news outside of Toronto. When viewers around the world get the chance to see this film, it will hopefully spark discussions.
Watch The King Tide 2023 Movie Trailer
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