The King Tide Reviews
Eric Langberg Everything's Interesting
My god, what an ending. 'The King Tide' pulls off one of the gutsiest, most unsettling final acts I’ve seen in a horror film in a minute, a nightmare of mounting tension with devastating results.
Full Review | Aug 23, 2024
Todd Jorgenson Cinemalogue
... a stylish and unsettling mystery layered with thoughtful moral complexity that resonates beyond its rustic island setting.
Full Review | Aug 17, 2024
Shakyl Lambert CGMagazine
It may be a bit slow for some, but The King Tide is an effectively intense thriller with a unique setting, and a great ensemble cast.
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Jul 2, 2024
Matthew Simpson That Shelf
Combined with the performances and the stark but stunning landscapes of Newfoundland, The King Tide is an excellent character study, a shocking thriller, and a great Canadian film as a result.
Full Review | May 11, 2024
Joe Lipsett Bloody Disgusting
Armed with serene, beautiful cinematography, murky moral developments, and a deep bench of talented character actors, The King Tide is a quiet gem that demands to be seen. It’s one of the year’s best genre films.
Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5 | Apr 26, 2024
Anne Brodie What She Said
Sometimes a movie will knock you flat out. The King Tide is such a film. Set on a wild, windy isolated island off Newfoundland and Labrador, A spellbinding tale of good and evil that represents us at our worst and most entitled, blind, and unsteady.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 26, 2024
Andrew Parker The Gate
The King Tide is a folk horror movie that isn’t particularly scary, but it more than makes up for its lack of shock value by being resoundingly thoughtful and uniquely philosophical.
Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Apr 26, 2024
Chris Bumbray JoBlo's Movie Network
A terrific genre-tinged morality tale.
Full Review | Apr 26, 2024
Johanna Schneller Globe and Mail
Sparkes really sticks the landing here: He makes it inevitable, sending you out of the theatre shaken yet also thrilled.
Full Review | Apr 26, 2024
Eric Marchen Rogers TV
Many thanks to Stephen King for clearly serving as a blatant inspiration to director Christian Sparkes’ derivative Needful Things meets Firestarter mashup.
Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Apr 26, 2024
Richard Crouse Richard Crouse
The King Tide features fine performances and has atmosphere to burn, but it is in its examination of the dangers of protectionism and self-interest that it is most effective.
Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 25, 2024
Pat Mullen That Shelf
The King Tide accentuates the gothic nature of the atmosphere as Isla’s innocence contrasts with the underlying menace of the community.
Full Review | Apr 23, 2024
Paul Risker PopMatters
Throughout The King Tide, the story explores the playfulness of genre cinema to conceal themes and ideas. Gradually, the film's allegorical intentions emerge.
Full Review | Dec 28, 2023
Aaron White Feelin' Film Podcast
A subtly thrilling film with a fascinating premise. Seeing how the community turns to dark means to protect its way of life and watching as the young girl with healing powers struggles to have free will is very engaging. Many thanks to Isla.
Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Sep 25, 2023
Kristy Strouse Film Inquiry
It’s a provocative and poignant narrative that simmers slowly, taking its time before steadily building towards a climactic inferno. The King Tide is fantastically unsettling.
Full Review | Sep 18, 2023
Christopher Llewellyn Reed Hammer to Nail
There are hidden secrets below the surface, even if some remain obscure.
Full Review | Sep 13, 2023
Shelagh Rowan-Legg ScreenAnarchy
The King Tide creates a strong atmosphere of foreboding that leads this parable down a path strewn with the best intentions and understandable needs.
Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 13, 2023
Jared Mobarak The Film Stage
With potent performances and a gorgeous, textured aesthetic, The King Tide proves a mesmerizing experience. The camerawork keeps the horrors that unravel mostly to our imagination so we can continue to look at reactions rather than results.
Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Sep 13, 2023
Fred Topel United Press International
A poignant parable that is especially pertinent today. A fantastic phenomenon reveals human behavior that is unfortunately relevant, with or without magic.
Full Review | Sep 12, 2023
Stephen Saito Moveable Fest
“The King Tide” doesn’t shrink away from the questions it raises, uncompromising in its finale where at least a little more compromise on the part of its characters could’ve gone a long way.
Full Review | Sep 12, 2023
