Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- grotesque
- eerie
- surreal
- arthouse film night
- dark fantasy marathon
What critics said
Critics recognized the film's radical visual imagination and coherence with Terry Gilliam's surrealist work, while mainstream reception remained sharply divided over its disturbing subject matter and lack of concessions.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jeliza-Rose interprets the desolate house, dead father, doll heads, and local inhabitants through a fantastical mental world.
Drug addiction, death, disability, and rural decay coexist with animated doll voices, magical adventures, and comic eccentricity.
Jeliza-Rose retreats into imaginative adventures after being abandoned amid her parents' addiction and her father's death.
The story moves to the isolated country home, where Jeliza-Rose encounters Dell, Dickens, and the remnants of her family life.
Films like Tideland, and why
Pan's Labyrinth
dark fantasy, grotesque imagination, and childhood perception reshaping a hostile reality
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
surreal visual invention, dysfunctional family dynamics, and disturbing whimsy
The City of Lost Children
macabre fantasy, isolated environments, and emotionally unsettling child-centered storytelling
The Reflecting Skin
bleak rural isolation, outsider characters, and eccentric gothic atmosphere
Movie Details
- Director
- Terry Gilliam
- Release Date
- 2005-10-13
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 6.5 / 10 (650)
Cast
- Jodelle Ferland
- Janet McTeer
- Brendan Fletcher
- Jennifer Tilly
- Jeff Bridges
- Dylan Taylor
- Wendy Anderson
- Sally Crooks
- Alden Adair
- Mitch Cullin
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, Fandor, Night Flight Plus, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Tideland about?
- A neglected girl escapes a deadening rural reality through a macabre fantasy inhabited by doll voices and unstable strangers.
- What is Tideland like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Tideland as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Tideland violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Tideland as mild.
- What did critics think of Tideland?
- Critics recognized the film's radical visual imagination and coherence with Terry Gilliam's surrealist work, while mainstream reception remained sharply divided over its disturbing subject matter and lack of concessions.
- Which films are like Tideland?
- Films with a similar feel include Pan's Labyrinth, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, The City of Lost Children, and The Reflecting Skin.
- How long is Tideland?
- Tideland runs 120 minutes.
- Where can I watch Tideland?
- In United States, Tideland streams on Philo, Fandor, Night Flight Plus, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Midnight Pulp Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel, ARROW.
