As the Tide Comes In

Juan Palacios, Denmark, 2024

88 min.DK/Documentary

Danish rating Allowed for all
Danish assessment Dokumentarfilmen er rolig fortalt og har en positiv grundstemning. Den indeholder en kort scene hvor en død ræv ses liggende på et gulv og scener hvor en kiste står med blomster på og der tales om en ældre kvindes død. Da scenerne er udramatiske og ikke udpenslet fremstillet, vurderes det, at filmen ikke indeholder elementer, som kan virke skræmmende på børn.
Danish title Før stormen
Original title Før stormen
Director Juan Palacios
Producer Kasper Lykke Schultz, Andreas Dalsgaard
Production country Denmark
Production companies Elk Film
Domestic distribution CPH:DOX
Assessment date 07.02.2024
Danish theatrical release 22.02.2024
Online release 21.11.2024, Filmcentralen
Synopsis The 27 residents on the tiny Danish Wadden Sea island of Mandø, are used to severe weather and flooding. Climate change has only made things worse and now it poses a serious existential threat to the eight-square-kilometer island. However, its last farmer, Gregers, whose family has lived there for eight generations, hasn’t given up in the face of the impending catastrophe. He refuses to build a life elsewhere and instead hopes to find a wife to manage the farm with him.

As a storm is slowly approaching, Gregers and his faithful dog inspect the obsolete dikes that protect his beloved island. In the meantime, Mie blows out the candles of her 100th-year birthday cake, Ellen and Ingeborg complain about the moon disease they suffer from, birdwatcher Niels laments about the rare birds that don’t come to the island anymore, and tourist guide Preben tells stories about past deadly floods to summer visitors. Despite the new threats from the rising sea, today’s current generation holds on steadfastly to their little part of the world.

The portrait of this microcosm is accompanied by masterfully crafted shots of the distinctive landscape, shifting skies, and seas that change with the wind. In a sense, the grim fate of these islanders, presented in drily humorous situations, will affect us all.