One thing I have learned about Cinequest Film Festival: there always seems to be at least one movie involving ghosts/the supernatural. This year, that entry is titled The Island Between Tides, an eerie chiller with a time-travel tinged twist. Perhaps we have seen this before to varying degrees of success, yet in its amalgamation of styles and atmosphere, The Island Between Tides is unique enough to warrant an easy recommendation.
We begin in Northern British Columbia, circa 1982. Six-year-old Lily wanders off onto a small tidal island, afterward going missing. Her frantic parents and older sister cannot seem to find her anywhere. When she eventually reemerges days later, Lily has no grasp on how long she has been gone, nor a recollection of being away at all. She has been changed in the interim, seemingly by the small island. Many years later, as an adult with a child, Lily hears a strange melody all around her. She has seemingly been haunted by it for all these years, and the strange obsession has been particularly troublesome for the rest of her family.
The setup is probably the best part of The Island Between Tides, promising a strange mystery and a treasure trove of secrets. Paloma Kwiatkowski (Riot Girls, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters) plays a young adult version of Lily with a determined energy that makes her journey a fascinating one to follow. This adult Lily, too, finds her way to that same tidal island of her past, whether to resolve unfinished business, or something decidedly more sinister. This time, when she emerges, decades have passed. Her baby, Jared (David Mazouz, Gotham), is now a troubled young man; the year is 2023, and the only phone numbers Lily knows have all been disconnected.
The time-hopping would be interesting enough on its own, but the film tries to take things a step further by way of paranoia and—you guessed it—ghosts. Lily and Jared share surprisingly commonalities. Despite Jared greeting her with repressed anger and a literal blade, he may be the key to helping Lily finally get the answers she has long been seeking. And what of that strange melody that refuses to leave her brain?
The Island Between Tides soars when it stays within the realm of familial drama. The weaving of timelines and Lily repeating the accidental damage of her disappearance hooked me early on. Ultimately, the ending kind of underwhelms, and the resolution to its central mystery feels a little on the weaker side. Nevertheless, The Island Between Tides gives Mazouz and Kwiatkowski plenty to do, and a much-needed Gotham reunion. What more could one ask for?
The Island Between Tides screened at 2024’s Cinequest Film Festival.
