Close Menu
  • Support Us
  • Newsletter
  • News
  • Features
  • Interviews
  • Reviews
    • Video Games
      • Previews
      • PC
      • PS5
      • Xbox Series X/S
      • Nintendo Switch
      • Xbox One
      • PS4
      • Tabletop
    • Film
    • TV
    • Anime
    • Comics
      • BOOM! Studios
      • Dark Horse Comics
      • DC Comics
      • IDW Publishing
      • Image Comics
      • Indie Comics
      • Marvel Comics
      • Oni-Lion Forge
      • Valiant Comics
      • Vault Comics
  • Podcast
  • More
    • Event Coverage
    • BWT Recommends
    • RSS Feeds
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
Support Us
But Why Tho?
RSS Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube
Trending:
  • Features
    One Piece But Why Tho 5

    Fathers of ‘One Piece’: Powerful Bonds, Legacy, and Found Family

    06/13/2025
    Elena Street Fighter 6 But Why Tho

    Elena Brings Style And Versatility To ‘Street Fighter 6’

    06/06/2025
    Lune and Sciel from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

    Lune, Sciel, And The Romance Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Fails To Realize

    06/05/2025
    Ana de Armas as Eve Macarro

    Everything To Know About Eve Macarro In ‘Ballerina’

    06/05/2025
    Marvel Rivals Ultron

    Ultron Brings Aggression To ‘Marvel Rivals’ Support Class

    05/31/2025
  • Star Wars
  • K-Dramas
  • Netflix
  • Switch 2 Games
  • Summer Game Fest
But Why Tho?
Home » TV » REVIEW: ‘Turn of the Tide’ Delivers A Complicated Look At Crime And Poverty

REVIEW: ‘Turn of the Tide’ Delivers A Complicated Look At Crime And Poverty

Charles HartfordBy Charles Hartford05/29/20234 Mins ReadUpdated:05/29/2023
Turn the Tide - But Why Tho
Share
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reddit WhatsApp Email

Turn the Tide - But Why Tho

Eduardo (José Condessa), Rafael(Rodrigo Tomás), Silvia(Helena Caldeira), and Carlinhos(André Leitão) are four friends feeling trapped in their poor fishing village on a small island in the Azores. But when a shipment of cocaine washes up on the shores of their home, they see it as a way to escape their dreary existence and make a better life for themselves in America. That is, of course, unless the local drug boss, law enforcement, and the rightful owners of the 60 million euros worth of coke they now possess have anything to say about it in Turn of the Tide, a thriller from Portugal directed by Augusto Fraga and Patrícia Sequeira, with writing by Augusto Fraga, Hugo Gonçalves, and João Tordo.

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

Get BWT in your inbox!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and get the latest and greated in entertainment coverage.
Click Here

They say most crimes are born out of desperation. That they come from people who are so desperate to escape the struggles and hassles of their current lives that the risks that come with a criminal lifestyle appear worth it. For the four friends that stand at the center of Turn of the Tide‘s narrative, it is, at least at first. After all, if there is one thing life is good at, it’s proving to us that no matter how bad you think your life is, it can always get worse.

The best aspect of Turn of the Tide is how perfectly it manages to balance the core cast’s moral alignment. Over the course of the show’s seven episodes, the primary four characters make a number of bad choices, either morally or intellectually, while managing to never stray so far into the bad spectrum that they start to feel like complete villains. Their questionable choices rarely feel like they are bad from an active desire to hurt or wrong others, except in the case of the other illegal elements involved in the story, which helps them mostly remain protagonists that can be rooted for.

Despite so many of its characters coming from such a small community, Turn of the Tide manages to deliver a great range of personalities that combine to create some strong interactions. These unique personalities are utilized by the cast to great effect. there are several pairings in this series that have great chemistry when they are on the screen together.

Turn the Tide - But Why Tho

Eduardo and Carlinhos bring the most authentic friendship to the series, as both characters always feel like they have known each other all their lives, thanks to how the actors play off each other. The other most noteworthy pairing actually comes from the two primary law enforcement characters. With one being a local officer and the other a detective sent from the mainland, the two form an excellent partner relationship as they strive to put all the clues together in the series of crimes that come to unfold throughout the course of the show.

Despite great chemistry and a compellingly maintained moral ambiguity for the story to live in, Turn of the Tide never manages to pull together that final something to push it over the top. There is tension and drama that never feels truly stoked, even when the threats are imminent. This feels largely due to a fairly conservative approach to the show’s cinematography. The camera work never feels bold enough with elements like angles and lighting to fully push the most dramatic moments to their highest potential.

Another element that doesn’t help the show’s failure to land those last few dramatic points is its incoherent soundtrack. The music that accompanies this series is absolutely all over the place. While some scores can make a variety of sounds vitalizing for a narrative, this show just feels scattered and uncertain. Like it’s simply throwing everything at the musical wall, hoping something will stick.

These pros and cons come together to make Turn of the Tide a strong but flawed tale. It provides an excellently maintained moral grey area for its protagonists to work in, even though how the series presents the drama never does due it the full justice it requires.

Turn of the Tide is streaming now on Netflix.

Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit Email
Previous ArticleREVIEW: It was Never Going to be Ken in ‘Succession’ Season 4
Next Article REVIEW: ‘Golden Idol Mysteries: The Spider of Lanka – Web of Deception’ is an Excellent DLC (Switch)
Charles Hartford
  • X (Twitter)

Lifelong geek who enjoys comics, video games, movies, reading and board games . Over the past year I’ve taken a more active interest in artistic pursuits including digital painting, and now writing. I look forward to growing as a writer and bettering my craft in my time here!

Related Posts

Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night with the Duke Episodes 1-2
8.5

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 1-2

06/12/2025
FUBAR Season 2 promo image from Netflix
8.5

REVIEW: ‘FUBAR’ Season 2 Is Still Hilarious

06/12/2025
The Buccaneers Season 2
4.0

REVIEW: ‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2 Fails the Women It Thinks It’s Championing

06/12/2025
Yoo Su-bin, Kim Shin-rok, Go Min-si, and Kang Ha-neul in Tastefully Yours
6.5

REVIEW: ‘Tastefully Yours’ Is A Half-Baked Romantic Venture

06/11/2025
Yoo Su-bin, Kim Shin-rok, Kang Ha-neul, and Bae Na-ra in Tastefully Yours Episodes 9-10
5.5

REVIEW: ‘Tastefully Yours’ Episodes 9-10

06/10/2025
Amaryllis April Maltha August in Families Like Ours
8.0

REVIEW: ‘Families Like Ours’ Balances Realism In Its Uncertainty

06/10/2025
TRENDING POSTS
Yoo Su-bin, Kim Shin-rok, Go Min-si, and Kang Ha-neul in Tastefully Yours
6.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘Tastefully Yours’ Is A Half-Baked Romantic Venture

By Sarah Musnicky06/11/2025

For all its emphasis on flavor, execution, and satisfying a customer, Tastefully Yours ultimately proves to be underwhelming.

Taecyeon and Seohyun in The First Night with the Duke Episodes 1-2
8.5
TV

REVIEW: ‘The First Night With The Duke’ Episodes 1-2

By Sarah Musnicky06/12/2025

The bar is set pretty high with The First Night With The Duke Episodes 1-2. While exposition-heavy, it is a delightfully silly watch.

Y'shtola in the FFXIV Commander Deck - Magic: The Gathering x Final Fantasy Interviews

Magic Designer Explains The Challenge Of Picking A Face For The FFXIV Commander Deck

By Kate Sánchez06/11/2025Updated:06/11/2025

FFXIV Commander Deck pulls highlights core characters and mechanics, with Y’shtola as its Commander. But building the deck, wasn’t easy.

Black Women Anime — But Why Tho (9) BWT Recommends

10 Black Women in Anime That Made Me Feel Seen

By LaNeysha Campbell11/11/2023Updated:12/03/2024

Black women are some of anime’s most iconic characters, and that has a big impact on Black anime fans. Here are some of our favorites.

But Why Tho?
Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest RSS YouTube Twitch
  • CONTACT US
  • ABOUT US
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER
  • Review Score Guide
Sometimes we include links to online retail stores. If you click on one and make a purchase we may receive a small contribution.
Written Content is Copyright © 2025 But Why Tho? A Geek Community

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

But Why Tho Logo

Support Us!

We're able to keep making content thanks to readers like YOU!
Support independent media today with
Click Here