Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
Article updated: 2022.01.20
The Tides (2021) is a futuristic fantasy adventure film. The movie was reviewed by Kadmon.
Product: Tides, movie (2021)
Original title: Tides, USA: The Colony
Series: -
Setting: future fantasy Earth
Product type: Film, Genre: futuristic fantasy adventure, Features: sci-fi, fantasy, futuristic fantasy, adventure, post-apocalyptic, Style: ?
Release: 2021.01.06
Reviewer: Kadmon, Type: Male, 40s, Preferences: Immersive, logical story, consistent setting, prefers surprises to spoilers, prefers establishing elements before referencing them
Watched: very recent (2022.01), first time
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points), Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points)
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This is my review of Tides, a futuristic fantasy adventure movie from 2021. It's about the crew of a scout spaceship from a distant colony landing on the Earth they've abandoned, to check the viability of recolonisation. The Tides film is watchable, but I only recommend it to fans of fantasy adventures.
If you'd like to be surprised by the Tides film, I don't recommend you to watch the trailer beyond 0:47, because it starts to give away too much of the plot. It basically provides a summary of the first 2/3 of the film.
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Review (spoiler-free) - Tides, movie (2021)
I didn't know anything about this movie, but the premise sounded interesting, so I thought I'll give it a try, when I had the opportunity. I didn't watch the trailer.
The Tides movie is about the crew of a scout spaceship from a distant colony landing on the Earth they've abandoned, to check the viability of recolonisation.
The premise of the story lacks any kind of logic. The plot doesn't make much sense. The pacing is consistent. There are no character arcs. There are plenty of logical problems. The story itself is somewhat pointless, because the characters themselves don't change, and they don't advance anything in the story.
The cinematography is good. I wouldn't say it was visually interesting, but the constant gray fog was fitting the story. I really liked the look of the movie, the setting and the costumes were cool. There were not many action scenes, but they were okay.
We don't really get to know the characters. The main character is an unlikeable, emotionless psychopath, probably not the best choice for a protagonist. The actors were okay for these roles.
The music (by Lorenz Dangel) is okay, fitting the theme of the movie. (Update: I've listened to the soundtrack, and it's rather good. It's more enjoyable if the movie doesn't distract you from appreciating the music.)
I've felt that the creators wasted their efforts on a stupid premise and plot, because otherwise the rest of the movie was good, interesting and engaging.
Tides is a watchable but stupid futuristic fantasy adventure, that I think fans of sci-fi should avoid, but fans of fantasy might enjoy.
My experience
I wasn't satisfied with Tides (2021). I prefer stories with well-thought, logical plots, and Tides couldn't deliver that.
Rating: Weak (2- out of 3 points). Tides is a well-made film, based on a laughably stupid premise, and a plot that lacks logic.
Enjoyment: Average (2 out of 3 points). Even though I didn't like any part of the plot, the rest of the Tides movie is okay.
Rewatchability: Average. I think if you liked it for the first time, you liked the setting or the style of the movie, so you might like to watch it multiple times.
Chance of watching it again: Unlikely. Now that I know the story, there's probably no need to watch it again.
Chance of watching a sequel: I'd probably watch it.
Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
Will you enjoy this?
If you like futuristic or sci-fi movies, you might like Tides.
If you like futuristic adventure movies (Planet of the Apes), you might like the Tides movie.
If you like post-apocalyptic stories (Mad Max 2, Waterworld), you might like Tides.
If you can get through the first half hour of the movie still interested, the rest of the movie will be something similar.
If you don't mind illogical elements in your movies, you can enjoy this.
If you hate subtitles, you are bad lack, because the foreign speech is shown in subtitles if you switch them on, but as they still speak the same gibberish even in the subtitles, you might as well leave that switched off.
If you prefer visuals over story, you won't get much out of Tides.
Watching for plot points
If you are interested in post-apocalyptic or futuristic adventure stories, I think it's worth watching the Tides movie for the plot points, if only to avoid these mistakes in your own works.
Should you watch this on your own screen at home, or is it worth going to the cinema?
The visuals probably look similar.
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Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
Review with spoilers - Tides, movie (2021)
I liked the execution of the story of the Tides movie, but I didn't like the basic concept, nor the actual plot, because both of those were lacked any sense.
Cover
The cover of the movie is okay, it doesn't say much, but it doesn't spoil the movie.
The trailer
The trailer is basically a substitute for watching the first 2/3 of the movie.
If you prefer spoilers, it's a great trailer for the Tides film. If you prefer to avoid spoilers, it will ruin the movie for you.
Promise of the first scene
We see a match lit up. Then we see a landing capsule splashing into water, and sinking. From an engineer's point of view, this is just stupid. I assume the rest of the movie will be similarly stupid. Also, it will be about the surviving crewmembers wandering around, probably saving the Earth.
Execution: The rest of the movie was similarly stupid, but luckily not in a similarly concentrated dose. I was mislead by my own expectations while thinking that the crew will do something essential, because they were just wandering aimlessly, until one of them committed suicide, and the other one made things worse for everyone.
Plot summary / Synopsis
Earth was left when it became uninhabitable, and people moved to another planet (Kepler 209). After a while, they've sent back a spaceship to check if the Earth is better now.
The landing capsule splashes into the ocean and sinks immediately. At least some of the crew swims out. Two of the astronauts are swept ashore, but only one of them, a girl (Nora Arnezeder as Louise Blake) survives. She finds the landing capsule nearby, with a surviving astronaut man (Sope Dirisu as Tucker) inside. Their commander is dead, so the astronaut man takes command. The next tide comes in 6 hours, so they have to gather their data in that time window. The astronaut girl goes out for scouting the area. She finds some animals.
She makes a fertility test on the trip, but it's negative.
A fog arrives, clouding everything. The astronaut is attacked by intruders in the landing capsule while the astronaut girl is still away. By the time the girl gets there, the whole module is carried away. Then she is also attacked and captured. Both of them are put into a prison. The astronaut girl notices a child among their captors.
The astronaut girl is told by the leader of the tribe (Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Narvik), who can speak English, to treat a man wounded in their fight. She uses her medical expertise to do that. She sees that the locals destroyed the inside of their capsule, so they hope to find the previous rocket capsule to use for sending a transmission. The wounded astronaut man commits suicide so he won't hinder the astronaut girl on the mission.
In a flashback, we get to know that they've left some weather stations around before leaving the Earth, and one of those stations signalled potential for human life again. That's why they've sent the mission, that was lead by the father of the astronaut girl. On Kepler, due to the local radiation, they can't have babies.
The astronaut girl starts a conversation with a local kid (Bella Bading as Maila), who is the child of the tribe leader. They are attacked by another tribe, killing some people, and taking the kid. The tribe leader abandons the survivors of her tribe to find her child. The astronaut girl joins her.
They find the captor's ship. As they disagree on how to approach the ship, the astronaut girl hits the tribe leader so hard, she falls unconscious. The astronaut girl is able to climb up. She sees that one of the crew members wears a jacket from the supply of the previous rocket. As she couldn't leave unnoticed, she hides between the prisoners taken from the tribe.
When they arrive to a city, the astronaut girl is noticed by one of the leaders (Paling), who also speaks English. The leader brings her to an old astronaut (Iain Glen as Gibson) from the previous mission. He tells her that the locals destroyed the previous landing pod, and killed the rest of the crew, including her father. He also tells her that this city is built to allow the return of the Kepler. They are building dams to hold against the tides, and hydropower plants to generate electricity. The astronaut girl is given her own room.
Next day the astronaut girl notices that she is menstruating. She is invited to the school to talk with the children. The foster son of the old astronaut tells him about a strange man, who lives in a shed, and the girl thinks that it's her father. She finds him, but the old astronaut appears, and tells her that her father is closed up, because it was him who lead the rebellion that lead to the destruction of the spaceship. The father tells her that he realised that they shouldn't have come here, that the inhabitants of the other planet shouldn't return, as they would just repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.
The guards of the city sound the intruder alert. The astronaut girl is attacked by the tribe leader, who demands that she leads her to her child. She does, but the guards arrive, and capture the tribe leader. It turns out that the tribe leader was one of the guards of the city, before turning traitor. The old astronaut tells the astronaut girl that they are taking female children from the natives to civilise them for the male inhabitants of the other planet, by the time they arrive at the Earth. The women of the other planet are already in their 40s, and after 15 years of travel they wouldn't be able to conceive a child even if the radiation effect of the planet would fade away.
The child of the tribe leader hides in the room of the astronaut girl. The worker leader almost finds her, so the astronaut girl kills him. Then the astronaut girl lets the captured people out, and lets her father free.
During this time, the old astronaut is already on his way to use as a transmitter, to send a report. The astronaut girl finds him on the old landing module that seems to be working, despite what the old astronaut told her. He tells her that his foster kid is actually the son of the father of the girl, making the boy her brother. After the old astronaut sends his report, they start to fight. The mother of the boy gets shot. The astronaut girl strangles the old astronaut. The astronaut girl almost drowns in the process, but the captives she'd freed come to her rescue, along with her father. They also take the boy with them.
The setting
Tides is set on the future of Earth.
Earth became uninhabitable due to climate change, pandemics and wars. The ruling elite settled of Kepler 209, another planet, somewhere. Some time later the Ulysses Project started, to check back on Earth. The first mission (Ulysses 1) was lost after landing, so they've sent a second spaceship (Ulysses 2).
On Kepler, the women probably didn't menstruate, as that seems new to the astronaut girl. They also have problems with fertility. That's why they intend to return to Earth, because otherwise their whole colony will die out. There's no atmosphere outside of the biodomes they've built.
After the movie ends, the inhabitants of Kepler probably receive the transmission, so they know it's safe to return to Earth. As the old astronaut has been killed, it's unknown how well will the city fare in preparing the landing zone, and a habitable area for the settlers.
Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
The message of the story
I'm not sure there's one, beyond the usual "humans are bad, we destroy everything we get our hands on".
The structure of the story
The scenes of the Tides film are mostly played in sequence, following the same storyline. There are some flashbacks to the childhood of the astronaut girl.
The astronaut girl is the single viewpoint character.
It has the usual arc of the dramatic structure - introduction, action, resolution.
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Things I liked
- I liked the look of the setting.
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How does it compare to the other works of the creators?
From the script writer / director (Tim Fehlbaum), I've seen Hell (2011) that was mediocre.
I haven't seen anything else yet, from the script writer (Mariko Minoguchi), the writer (Jo Rogers), and the other writer (Tim Trachte).
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Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
Analysis of the story - Tides, movie (2021)
I've found it very hard to suspend my disbelief over the basic premise of the story. That, unfortunately, mostly prevented me from enjoying Tides.
Problematic elements
The title: Either "Tides" or "The Colony" is so vague, it doesn't really evoke any feelings, and it doesn't really describe the premise. (And both are bad choices from a marketing perspective.)
The protagonist: The astronaut girl is a good example for the message of the movie, as wherever she goes, she messes things up for the worse. However, to make the message more clear, it would have been better if it were the antagonist who did this, and the protagonist would defeat the antagonist to make things better.
Sending people to check the Earth: The whole concept is stupid. Why would they need human-piloted spaceship to land on Earth to check it? Even if they need a human to lead the mission, they could just send probes to find out everything about the planet, while the spaceship is in orbit.
Sending a rocket: The Ulysses 2 mission used a rocket with a landing capsule instead of a landing shuttle. This is not very efficient, as it requires the pilot to land in the water, waiting for someone to rescue them, and as far as they know, there might not be a single human left on Earth. Also, it means the pilot will need to find another spaceship to get back to orbit. They don't even know if they will be able to transmit a message through the atmosphere of the Earth.
Sinking landing module: Why didn't they made the landing module buoyant, if they intended it to be landing on water? It would have made the chances of survival for the crew a lot higher.
Lucky crew: After they've landed, they all seem to be passed out in the water. It's a very lucky thing that the tides got two of them to a nearby shore.
Lucky landing module: It was a very lucky thing that the module that sunk into the ocean was swept ashore at the same time, and to the same place where the other astronauts were.
Lack of protective suits: If the Earth is supposed to be uninhabitable, why didn't they all have protective suits during entry? Or at least a breathing mask? That would have protected them from the water, and the astronaut wouldn't have drown. Also, the girl went on a scouting mission without a protective suit, and she was stung by a medusa early on. That is exactly why a protective suit is useful.
Lack of compass: Why does the girl need a flare to navigate? Even today we have wireless signals, or compasses.
Lack of foresight: Why do the locals pull that heavy landing module into their camp, if they only intended to smash it to make it unusable? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to smash it wherever they've found it? It takes a lot of effort to pull that thing away, seemingly for nothing.
The change of mind: Why does the astronaut girl turn against the plan of their people? She seems like she was a model citizen, and believed in the greater good.
Lack of empathy: The astronaut girl just looks remorseless.
- Because of a disagreement, she knocks the tribe leader unconscious, and leaves her in the beach. If she didn't come to her senses, she could have drown there.
- She has slightly more reason for hitting the worker leader, but killing him seems a bit too much to teach him a lesson.
Lack of resources: The Earth seems to be barren. There's the water, and there's some primitive life in the water, but we don't see any surface plants or surface animals. Where do the inhabitants get wood to build their structures? How do they get canvas to make their clothes? What do they eat? As a jellyfish is mostly water, I'm sure it won't make a great source of food.
Ulysses 1: Why did Gibson keep the first spaceship on the water? Why didn't he bring it on the tanker? There's plenty of space to hide it, even if he doesn't want to show it to his own people. Having it laying around would be more suspicious to them anyway.
Fertility: While cosmic radiation can cause the loss of fertility, I don't think the lack of cosmic radiation would just quickly cure that. And if it does, then coming up with shielding against it would also cure that. Currently we are working on radiation shields for a colony on Mars, so that's a real problem. And if it's a radiation from the Kepler's sun, they would just need to move away, or find a way to shield themselves from it.
Fertility and menstruation: Although I'm not a gynecologist, I'm pretty sure that menstruation doesn't have much to do with fertility. Infertile women also menstruate. Unless the radiation of Kepler magically causes the menstruation to stop, but then in vitro fertilisation could be still an option.
Gibson's plan: What did he think, how long can he hide her father from the astronaut girl? Or the Ulysses 1 for that matter? Did she intend to get rid of the girl in the near future? If he did, why did he introduce her to the kids? If he intended to keep her around, why did he become antagonistic towards her in the end?
Unanswered questions
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Possibilities of improvement
How it could have been better?
Instead of landing modules, use shuttles. Those can still be destroyed or hidden if the plot requires it.
Let the astronauts wear protective suits. That won't stop the local from capturing them.
Drop the fertility sub-plot, it doesn't make much sense anyway.
Make the movie about the story of the astronaut girl. Let she overcome something important, instead of just destroying things. Let her advance in her character, achieving a character arc.
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Behind the scenes
Thoughts about the reviews of others
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Tides, movie (2021)
image © BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion & Vega Film & Constantin Film (Highlight Communications) & Studio Babelsberg & SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen & SRG - SSR
Uses for the film - Tides, movie (2021)
Plot
- The Earth becomes uninhabitable, so a part of humanity leaves for another colony.
- The inhabitants of space settlers return to Earth, to find out what happened to it.
- An astronaut scout landing on a primitive planet organises a society to prepare for the arrival of the rest of his people.
- A rebellion rises against this, lead by one of his fellow astronauts.
Scenes
Designs
Scenario ideas - Role-playing game scenario ideas
- The team lands in a place unknown to them. They have to scout the area, and try to make a friendly contact with the locals.
Scenario ideas - Wargame scenario ideas
Gathering workers: The attackers want to gather slaves. The defenders are a community - 1/3 is children, 1/3 is adults, 1/3 is elderly, half of those is male, the other half is female. If you don't have proper models, indicate this somehow. The attackers are a usual group of warriors. The defender sets up the playing area, and deploys their units anywhere. The defenders can start hidden, or inside buildings. Then the attacker deploys their forces on the edges of the playing area. If the attackers defeat someone in close combat, roll a d6, on 1-3, they've captured their victim intact, on 4-6, their target was wounded, so they are useless. If two attackers attack and defeat the target, there's no need to roll, they just overpower the victim. A captured victim needs to be hauled to a transport vehicle, or out of the playing area. The scenario ends when one side defeats the other, or when the attackers retreat. After the game ends, add up the Army points for the surviving models. For the attackers, a captured elderly is worth 1 Victory point, a child is worth 2 Victory points, while an adult is worth 4 Victory points. For the defenders, the loss of an elderly is worth -1 Victory points, a child is worth -4 Victory points, while an adult is worth -2 Victory points. The side with the more Victory points is the winner.
Boys for the mine: Any captured male child or male adult is worth double the points for the attacker.
Women for the rich: Any captured female child or female adult is worth double the points for the attacker.
Old blood for the Old Ones: Any captured elderly is worth double the points for the attacker.
Miniatures - 1/50-1/60 (28-32mm scale)
Primitives: Human-sized post-apocalyptic humans.
Astronauts: Human-sized futuristic humans in skintight suits.
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Similar stories - Tides, movie (2021)
Novels
Pierre Boulle: La Planète des singes / Planet of the Apes (1963): A spaceship lands on a planet, the crew dies or get captured by locals, who also destroy their spaceship. The surviving crewmember is welcomed into the society of the captors, but he decides to escape with his family.
Movies
Planet of the Apes (1968): A spaceship lands on a planet (Earth), the crew dies or get captured by locals. The surviving crewmember escapes. Based on the Planet of the Apes novel.
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Frequently asked questions - Tides, movie (2021)
Is the Tides film based on a book or comics?
No, Tides is not based on either books or comics.
Is the Tides film a remake or reboot?
No, the Tides film is neither a remake nor a reboot.
Is there a post credit scene in Tides? Does Tides have end credit scenes?
No, there's no post credit scene in Tides.
Where can I see Tides? Where can I watch Tides online? Is Tides available on Netflix? Is Tides on Amazon?
As of 2022.01.18, Tides is available on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play, Netflix, Vudu, YouTube.
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Resources - Tides, movie (2021)
Official
BerghausWöbke Filmproduktion: Tides: Official article.
Vega Film: Tides: Official article.
Information
IMDB: Tides (2021): Database article.
WikiPedia: Tides (film): Database article.
Letterboxd: The Colony 2021: Database article.
Rotten Tomatoes: The Colony 2021: Database article.
Creation
: Concept art article.¤
Reviews with no spoilers - Tides film (2021)
Rabbit-Reviews: The Colony AKA Tides [2021]: Review article about the Tides film with no spoilers.
Reviews with spoilers - Tides film (2021)
: Review article of the Tides movie, with spoilers. Includes a very detailed plot summary.¤
Analysis - Tides movie (2021)
: Analysis video, explaining the finale of Tides.¤
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Buying the product - Tides, movie (2021)
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Have you seen the Tides film? How do you like the movie? Would you recommend it to others? Do you know reviews or resources you'd like to add? What further thoughts do you have about it? Tell your opinion in the comments!
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