Captain Hook: The Cursed Tides – Review
Captain Hook: The Cursed Tides isn’t the swashbuckling family-friendly fare you might expect. Instead, it’s closer to The Witch meets Master and Commander with a dash of folk horror in its salt-soaked bones.
Lars Janssen, working with limited resources, the windswept backdrop of Guernsey, and a subject matter that could easily have slipped into pantomime parody has managed to create something brooding, atmospheric, and surprisingly weighty.
The story follows James Hook (Richard Rowden) who, after losing his hand to his nemesis Admiral Smee (Sean Cronin), staggers into the fishing village of Eldritch Landing, he forms an unlikely alliance with Silas Blackweather (Munraj Bhachu), a blacksmith bent on vengeance. What follows is less about sword-swinging spectacle and more about cursed coastlines and uneasy loyalties.
The Cursed Tides isn’t trying to reinvent the pirate tale. The beats are familiar – the disgraced captain, the vengeful ally, the relentless pursuer – and sometimes it leans a little heavily on mood over momentum. But where the film really comes alive is in its performances. Rowden gives Hook a brittle nobility. Bhachu’s Silas provides grit and conviction, while Cronin’s Smee – sneering, battle-scarred and unrelenting – makes for a satisfyingly grounded antagonist.
The direction is lean, the cinematography evocative and the score rousing at times, with very sparse dialogue this almost feels like a silent movie. Filming at Castle Cornet and aboard the replica frigate Shtandart pays off, there’s a tactile sense of place here that belies the budget, and the decision to play things with restraint works in its favour. You do feel the lack of budget though, you can see where the scene as written could do with a larger cast and the costumes occasionally look a little clean. With a typically piratical score, the soundtrack is minimal, letting long silences fill the gaps, an approach that builds tension rather than undercutting it.
It’s far from perfect. The pacing stays at a steady simmer when you sometimes wish for a boil, and not every set-piece lands with the punch it aims for. But as a reimagining of one of literature’s most overexposed villains, it’s both ambitious and refreshing.
At the end of the day, Captain Hook: The Cursed Tides is a stormy, slow-burn take on a familiar name. A grim, folkloric spin that trades spectacle for mood and ends up with something hauntingly memorable. If you’re into stripped-back, character-led tales, this one is worth your time.
The Cursed Tides is quiet, tense, and laced with dread. Its sparse dialogue and moody visuals make it stand out, even if the tension never quite peaks. For those craving a pirate saga that trades swordplay for shadow play, there’s plenty here to devour.
Captain Hook: The Cursed Tides is available in the UK via VOD/Streaming and on DVD.
Coming to VOD/Streaming in the US 14 October.
