Richard Miller’s short ’Night Tide’ presents a surprising story about love and trust, and how these two can work when they are not actually working. Though Ryan and Amy have their issues, their relationship seems to go on the normal course, however, at some point, the universe intervenes and the story gets deeper and deeper with every passing minute.

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Ryan, played by Gavin Fowler, is the core of the web, as the whole narrative gravitates around him. His insecurities, his trust issues, the love he projects, the anger, the disgust - they are all part of the humankind, Richard Miller managing to create such a complex character that could cover the whole spectrum of human dissatisfaction. The portrait of the modern psycho seems a little bit different from the others we're accustomed with in movies of this kind. Miller’s psycho has remorse, we can feel the mixed vibes sent through small gestures that aren’t common for this type of human beings.

 

At some point, ‘Night Tide’ reminded us of Post Malone’s ‘Rock star’ music video as the sense of obscurity is omnipresent, and the overall gestures are seen through a strobe light that makes you see one in eight frames. Moreover, ‘Night Tide’ is full of symbolic elements that are unveiling a profound and probably creepy story if analyzed closely. We would go and mention the constant knocking, the lights going crazy, along with the constant visual bias the main character encounters. We don’t know where to put this short – it’s not really a horror film, but it has the spook-factor you will definitely enjoy. At the same time, it’s not a thriller, but it has the madness and the suspense of the thriller genre. In this case, ‘Night Tide’ must be put at the crossroad of these two genres, combining the best from each, with a narrative that would make even Edgar Alan Poe jealous.

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Written by Vlad A. G