A mysterious house by the sea, where the presence of water and marine elements carries a significant symbolic weight (like tides serving as impending signs of overflowing feelings), hides countless secrets. This is where Natália Azevedo Andrade stages her family drama, in which three children neglected by an offbeat mother, somewhat detached from the reality surrounding her – maybe resulting from a depressive state? –, find refuge in their own imagination. The kids’ fantasies and the mother’s nightmares are elements the filmmaker uses effectively and inventively. Beyond an ambivalence of feelings, they provide the movie with a constant journey between reality and imagination that also lends itself to a well-crafted variety of animation techniques and styles. Coming after “Within” (2015) and “Hereafter” (2016), “Thorns and Fishbones” is Natália Azevedo Andrade’s third movie at Curtas, as well as her Master’s thesis at Budapest’s MOME. (MD)