Flood Tide: A river trip that feels a bit too long

Is this for you?

If you have a thing for black-and-white British nostalgia and don't mind a story that moves at the speed of a gentle rowboat, you’ll probably find Flood Tide charming enough. If you need, you know, an actual plot or characters who do more than just exist in the scenery, you might want to look elsewhere.

It’s not trying to be One Exciting Adventure, that’s for sure. It’s just... there. Floating along.

The vibe

There’s something weirdly hypnotic about the way the camera lingers on the water. It’s almost too much water. Sometimes it feels like the director just forgot to yell cut and everyone kept filming the tide for another ten minutes.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Flood Tide (1934) through its definitive frames.

The transition from the lock-keeper life to the pub feels a bit abrupt. One minute they’re dealing with gates, the next they’re pulling pints. It’s a bit jarring, but nobody seems to mind. The characters just shrug it off like it’s a Tuesday.

Odd bits I noticed:

• The extras in the pub scenes have this weird habit of looking directly at the camera when they think nobody is watching.
• The dialogue is so polite it’s almost painful. Nobody ever just gets mad, do they?
• The lighting in the riverside scenes has a strange glow, like someone left a lantern on behind a bush.

The younger couple, well, they’re sweet. Maybe a bit too sweet. You can feel the script pushing them together, like two magnets being forced to touch when they’d rather just be friends. It’s not quite as messy as the stuff in Chained, but it gets the job done.

Honestly, the best part is just the sound of the river. It’s a quiet movie. You don't get many of those anymore. It’s nice, but I found myself checking my watch a few times just to make sure time was still moving. Sometimes it feels like the movie is stuck in the mud along with the boats.

Would I watch it again? Probably not. Is it bad? No. It’s just... a river movie. It’s fine. 🌊