Tideland

In a remote, weather‑worn corner of the American landscape, a faded farmhouse clings to the edge of a barren town, its walls whispering of neglect and forgotten hopes. The air is heavy with a lingering melancholy, broken only by the occasional burst of a child’s imagination that seems to pulse like a fragile lantern in the gloom. Here, the world feels both intimate and expansive, a place where reality blurs with the stories a young mind tells herself to survive.

Jeliza‑Rose is an eleven‑year‑old whose world is colored by the remnants of broken toys, tattered books, and a cherished copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. She carries the weight of a home where adult struggles spill over into her daily routine, yet she finds solace in the make‑believe companions she creates, turning the cracked floorboards of her home into a stage for grand adventures. Her keen perception lets her see wonder in the cracked paint and rusted tools, while also feeling the ache of an unsettled childhood.

Noah, her father, drifts through his own haze of coping mechanisms, offering Jeliza‑Rose moments of tenderness that feel both earnest and frail. Their relationship is a delicate dance of dependence and yearning, each trying to shield the other from the harsher edges of their existence. The bond they share is tinged with the bittersweet awareness that they must navigate a life without the usual scaffolding of stability, fostering a quiet resilience that fuels Jeliza‑Rose’s inventive escapism.

When circumstances force the pair to leave their familiar surroundings, they arrive at a dilapidated shack that feels like a new frontier of decay and possibility. The space becomes a canvas for Jeliza‑Rose’s imagination, where the ordinary transforms into the extraordinary through the eyes of a child determined to rewrite her own story. The film lingers in this liminal space, inviting viewers to feel the tension between harsh reality and the luminous, sometimes fragile, realm of youthful fantasy.

Last Updated: August 10, 2025 at 09:57