Tideland
THINKFilm | Release Date: October 13, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
26
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
4
Negative:
16
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's crazy, dangerous and sometimes gorgeous: a feast of nuttiness that takes you, for a while, over the edge. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyTom Charity
This Southern Gothic Alice in Wonderland is not for the faint-hearted, to be sure, yet amid the swaying chaff there are moments of piercing grace and beauty when we'e reminded of the lost, lonely child at the heart of this tale. If nothing else, it's liberating to see one of cinema's unrepentant fantasists going out on a limb like this and cutting loose. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
By turns fascinating and intolerable. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
It's no "trip through the dark to appreciate the light." It's a nightmare from start to finish. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesSam Adams
Tideland is equally evocative of the pastoral mystery of an Andrew Wyeth painting and the looming menace of "Psycho." The disparity is fitting, because as Tideland unfolds, it's difficult to tell if you're watching a fantasy or a horror movie, or one superimposed on the other. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie Punter
Tideland is the easiest of Gilliam's films to follow, yet the most disturbing to watch. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Gilliam has suffered more than his share of butchered projects, but with this exercise in kamikaze auteurism, he appears to have made exactly the mess he wanted. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A mix of "Alice in Wonderland" and William S. Burroughs, "Psycho" and the psychotic. It's pretty much a squirmy experience all around. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Tideland is, by turns, a complete bore and a creepy experience. And I don't mean "creepy" in a positive sense. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A murky swamp of a movie, Terry Gilliam's defiantly surreal Tideland finds every good idea drowning in an excess of indulgence. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
A misconceived washout of a darkly gothic story of madness, addiction and child abuse made all the more unpleasant by Gilliam's trademark intense visual style. Read full review
30
VarietyLeslie Felperin
Dragged down by a sputtering script and torpid pacing. Way too disturbing for kids and too weird for most grown-ups. Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
When the little girl tells her decapititated doll, "It's not just a bad dream," she is right. It's just a bad movie. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Borderline unwatchable, although, as is true of all Gilliam movies, it certainly is different. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The results are dull, of all things. The movie itself feels like an overstuffed burrito, Read full review
20
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The worst that can be said of the first two-thirds of Tideland is that it is tiresome. Toward the end it becomes creepy, and not in a good way. Read full review
11
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
When they’re used to tell a story as dreary, unfocused, and exhausting as Tideland, the director’s trademark dreamscapes and disorienting camera angles feel like so much artless window dressing. Read full review
10
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
The misanthropic nadir of the director's crash-and-burn career. Read full review
10
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Enter this diseased Lewis Carroll universe at your own risk. Read full review
0
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Dour, absurdist, gruesomely awful. Read full review
0
New York PostKyle Smith
It's trashy and disgusting - and those are the best parts. Mostly it's just an endless, pointless drone with characters like bacteria and dialogue like an untuned radio. Read full review
0
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Rarely has an act of such cinematic cruelty as Tideland been perpetrated on filmgoers. Read full review
0
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Immediately shoots to the top of the list of the year's worst movies. Read full review
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