LADY OF TIDES

LADY OF TIDES

Azores, Terceira Island... A woman lies on the black sand of the beach at dusk. She looks dead. In the town of São Mateus, right next door, it's time for introspection and pilgrimages. But the pilgrimage is suddenly interrupted. A child has gone missing: Chico, the miracle baby, Flávia's son, whom everyone adores. The atmosphere is one of consternation. Nobody knows about him. The men gather to look for him. The women pray to the Holy Spirit. There are fears that he has fallen down a cliff. That he has died at sea. The women quickly turn on Anabela, the girl who was supposed to be looking after Chico.

The woman on the beach is Joana, who has come in from the sea, tired and struggling for life. She has just turned 36, a few days before, and discovered that she is pregnant. This news, which would be a blessing for a woman who really wants to be a mother, has become a problem. Alexandre, her husband, is egoistic, controlling and sometimes violent. The fact that he is unemployed has made matters worse.

Recent times have been scary. It will be difficult to convince him that this is a good time to bring a child into the world... The worst thing is that Alex finds out about the pregnancy and reacts very badly. He seems to go mad, threatens Joana and pulls a gun on her. And Joana runs away, in the middle of the night, with no bag, no phone and no money.

In desperation, she hides on a sailboat, but ends up falling asleep. She wakes up hours later in the open sea. The owners of the boat are not to be trusted and Joana realizes that she has run away from one threat only to fall into another, even bigger one. Near Terceira, she thinks they're going to kill her and throws herself off the boat.

She wakes up on the beach with Chico petting her. When she arrives in the village with the child on her lap, she is welcomed like a saint. The legend of the Lady of the Sea is born.