Once upon a time, I spent an extended car ride in the backseat with my six year old cousin. She was lost in her own play world, issuing a steady monologue as she went, until suddenly she hit upon a phrase that struck me. “The window has rotten teeth,” she said, amid gales of laughter. To this day, I don’t know what she meant. I should have asked Terry Gilliam during the Q&A after last night’s Hirshhorn screening of Tideland, his latest, and by far most difficult, film. I think he might have understood.

Because before the lights dimmed, Gilliam gave us this warning: He wanted to divide the audience for this film. He wanted us to argue about it with our friends for days, weeks to come. Forget about your fears, your prejudices, and rediscover your innocence. Pretend, he said, that you are not an adult.

Judging from the few people who walked out during the screening, and the long and rather uncomfortable silence that lasted until the credits had been rolling for nearly a minute before slow applause began to spread, Gilliam succeeded in his goal. Tideland is not the feelgood hit of the holiday season. When it premiered at film festivals a year ago, some reviews maintained that it was unreleasable. But the director stuck to his guns, and after finally finding distribution with ThinkFilm, Tideland will see theatrical release beginning next Friday.