Rich, Atmospheric Psychological Horror is What the Tide Dragged In (SOHOME)
Title: What the Tide Dragged In
First Non-Festival Release: TBD
Director: Patricio Valladares
Writer: Patricio Valladares
Runtime: 78 Minutes
Starring: María Jesús Marcone, Luna Martínez, Ana Cárdenas
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Sohome Film Festival in 2025.
The ocean inspires much in the name of human emotions. Inspiring fear from its power or excitement from the possibilities of adventure to the necessity of the life it provides in terms of food. There’s an ancient quality about the sea that commands respect even when us mortals cannot understand its demands.
Sisters Clara (María Jesús Marcone) and Martina (Luna Martínez) travel to the seaside town they frequented as children to scatter their late mother’s ashes in the sea and rest in their grandfather’s cabin. She died when Clara was in London but gradually worsened for years while Martina took care of her. The sisters hash out their complicated emotions with each other but their journey to getting closure is cut short when one of them disappears into the tide. When she returns, she isn’t the same.
Slow burn, to a fault at times, What the Tide Dragged In is a delicious maritime horror film with an excellent sense of style.
A glorious love letter to the simmering, dreamy world of 70s psychological horror, What the Tide Dragged In applies the staples to its modern folk horror tale. A strong inciting incident and a refreshing sense of patience allows the psychological components of the horror to shine. Disorienting in how it displaces both the characters and viewers in danger, the film largely takes place in just a few locations. A cemetery, a beach, and a lonely trailer. What the Tide Dragged In thrives on the ambiguity and simplicity. As the situation becomes clearer along with the implications, the horror takes hold in a special way. Focusing on the family melodrama over the mysterious, cosmic horror of the sea, What the Tide Dragged In gives viewers an easy in to the movie.
The sisters are the driving force of this film, with their relationship to each other and the sea front-and-center, they dissect the complicated emotions that come with grief and growing apart. Each has their own angst about the final years of their mother’s life but it’s not in their confrontation that makes their situation interesting. Cutting through typical lines of responsibility, it is Clara who is the more flighty, less dedicated of the two going against the stereotypical older sister archetype. Both sisters went through a lot during their time apart and as their walls fall down throughout the night, they are forced to contend with the choices they made. The guilt adds to the tension, making the ghostly beckoning of the beach feel less encompassing.
Picturesque beaches and the simmering whispers of the wind paint an unexpectedly haunting picture of what lies beneath the tide. Spectral cinematography makes the film feel as light and airy as its mysterious antagonist. Dread creeps in like the tide, slowly overtaking the film in the glow of grainy shots and opaque characters. Draped in somber blues and almost-mystic imagery, What the Tide Dragged In sublimely captures the energy of a 70s slow-burn, psychological horror.
At the end of the day, it’s the pacing that brings down the film a few notches. Stagnant in its storytelling, What the Tide Dragged In never finds the right flow for escalating its stakes, lost after its first body gets caught in the current. What remains is a lot of shouting and fumbling around in the twilight, which embodies much of the film’s second act. Paralyzing the tension before it washes ashore, What the Tide Dragged In only parses through so much before reaching its inevitable conclusion.
An acquired taste for sure, this throwback will test the patience of those who seek comfort in more action-driven horror flicks. Atmospheric and dreamy as hell, the vibes and its focus on the sister’s relationship do much of the carrying for the film when the story drags. While it could have benefitted from a sharper edit and potentially fleshing out some of the genre elements, What the Tide Dragged In is another quality-crafted, international indie film that deserves a watch. If seaside horror wrapped up in a 70s psychological thriller bow sounds like something you’d enjoy, don’t ignore the call to watch What the Tide Dragged In.
Overall Score? 6/10
