The Island Between Tides is an adaptation of Mary Rose, a play by Peter Pan author J.M. Barrie. The movie is also a folk tale, a melancholic ghost story, a character driven mystery, and a slow-burning psychological thriller. It is not, however, very good.

Single mother Lily (Riot Girls’ Paloma Kwiatkowski) doesn’t feel “normal”. As a young girl, she innocently wandered off and crossed onto an unfamiliar island, only to come back shortly after to worried parents who claimed she had been missing for a couple of days. Now older, she finds herself compelled to revisit the mysterious island. But upon on her return, 25 years have passed. Her son Jared (David Mazouz of The Games Maker) is older and, now, struggles with his own grasp on reality. While her sister (Camille Sullivan of Ally Was Screaming) and father (Oliver Sherman character actor Donal Logue) are too tired to ponder about the likeliness of Lily’s return.

Lily and Jared suffer from the same symptoms and, soon, find themselves helping each other find their own personal reassurance. This boils down to lots of hamfisted drama between Kwiatkowski and Mazouz featuring the actors overacting and, in turn, missing moments to mutually share and feed off of each other’s emotions. Kwiatkowski’s performance, in particular, is so bizarre that the audience is constantly trying to do the math on the age she’s trying to portray; only to further frustrate us when the movie leans on her mental health to fill in any gaps regarding Lily’s personality.

This is a threadbare flick from Vancouver natives Austin Andrews and Andrew Holmes (who also co-wrote the undercooked script). The directors (and DoP Dany Lavoie) know how to capture Vancouver and its alluring beauty. I wish Andrews and Holmes had the same knack for intrigue and creativity to elevate this time-bending mystery beyond being an indifferent puzzle. The film simply exists to confuse or befuddle the audience. While that can sometimes be a fun ride, without providing concerning stakes for the story or its characters, the audience is left with an annoying fantasy that’s exhausting and melodramatic.

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Addison Wylie: @AddisonWylie