Rose of Nevada

There is slow-burning and then there’s slow-burning…and Cornish director Mark Jenkins' supernatural time-travel drama burns very slow indeed. George MacKay and Callum Turner are the two lads who get more than they bargained for when they join the crew aboard a vessel which mysteriously reappears after thirty years lost at sea.

“I wish I knew what’s going on” says George MacKey’s character Nick at some point during the film and it’s a sentiment most likely shared by many a viewer… Not there’s anything wrong with the film’s premise, which centres around the sudden reappearance of a fishing vessel, the titular Rose of Nevada, after it was presumed lost at sea some thirty years ago. It’s just that it’s never explained why and how it suddenly reappeared and, more so, why, after some renovation work, it travels back in time with its current crew aboard.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the film though and we’re confronted with a small Cornish fishing village which has seen better days. And that’s an understatement. Ever since said fishing vessel ‘The Rose of Nevada’ mysteriously disappeared thirty years earlier, complete with its crew, the villagers have never quite recovered from the tragedy and neither has the economic climate in the area. There’s Nick (G. MacKay), who not only has his own mouth to feed but that of his wife and kid. It’s a tough existence and Nick is part of a team hired to fix the collapsed roof of a house. And there’s Liam (Callum Turner), a drifter and chancer who’s currently sleeping rough at the local docks. Both dream of better days ahead but will it happen? It might be when, completely out of the blue (or out of the sea, rather) , the Rose of Nevada turns up at the harbour, in a dismal state obviously and with no men on board. Businessman Mike (Edward Rowe), the original owner of the vessel, doesn’t miss much sleep over the ‘how and why’ questions. After vamping it up, he proceeds to get a new crew together and Nick and Liam are supposed to be part of it. 

Somewhat cautious but also excited, Nick experiences a bit of a setback when his senile old neighbour Mrs. Richards (Mary Woodvine) seems to mistake Nick for her son Luke, a fisherman who, guilt-ridden, committed suicide after the vessels got lost thirty years ago. Now, Mrs. Richards seems to believe that Luke has returned together with the vessel and urges him to be more careful this time ‘round when they go out fishing again, with salty old sea dog cum skipper Murgey (Francis Magee) calling the shots. At first, all seems to go well and when the crew return to the fishing village, they are proud of the catch from the sea, which should help boost the economy. But this is the moment when things get truly weird, because they return to the fishing village as it was thirty years ago and it’s not just Nick who gets confused with the dead Luke, but Liam is mistaken for Alan, a young dad who was part of the original crew and had disappeared thirty years ago… Even more bizarrely, Liam embarks on a romance with Alan’s former wife Tina while taking on the role of a father to her daughter Jess, whom he had romanced in the present time. 

It all sounds intriguing enough and there's plenty of scope for a dreamlike atmosphere, beautifully photographed by director Jenkin himself on a clockwork 16mm clockwork camera. Nick in particular often has an expression of someone who is bewildered by events and an aura of foreboding surrounds him, while booze-loving Nick is the more laid-back of the two. But somehow, the puzzle never really comes together as a whole and whereas Jenkin’s 2022 psychological folk-horror ENYS MEN delivered the goods, ROSE OF NEVADA leaves many questions open - perhaps we are invited to draw our own conclusions here. It also takes quite a while until the more supernatural elements kick in, with the first half of the film more focused on the villagers' hardship. The acting is pretty flawless but the slow pace may not be to everyone’s taste.

ROSE OF NEVADA has just been released on Blu-ray and DVD with the following Extras:
Audio commentary by director Mark Jenkin and film critic Mark Kermode / Rose of Nevada Q&A (2026, 37 mins) / The Jenkin Way (2025, 16 mins): behind-the-scenes documentary / Mark Jenkin in conversation with Rowan Woods (2026, 15 mins) / Selection of short films by Mark Jenkin / Between the Tides (1958, 21 mins): a mesmerising Technicolor study of intertidal life on Britain’s rocky southwest coast / Helping the Earth: Cry (1992, 1 min): a hand-painted public information film about global warming / Stills gallery / Theatrical trailer / Illustrated booklet (first pressing only).