★ 7 / 10
Writer and director Tyler Cornack's **MERMAID** is one
The Fixate & Binge Podcast, w/ Joe Curdy
Writer and director Tyler Cornack's **MERMAID** is one of the oddest and most satisfying romance-horror films ever made, making a convincing argument that when…
Writer and director Tyler Cornack's **MERMAID** is one of the oddest and most satisfying romance-horror films ever made, making a convincing argument that when it comes to mermaid films, there is more than enough room for this to sit alongside Ron Howard's **SPLASH** (1984) and Guillermo del Toro's **THE SHAPE OF WATER** (2017).
Set along Florida's west coast, Cornack's film — in a similar setup to Howard's and del Toro's films — centers around perennial loser Doug Nelson (played to perfection by Johnny Pemberton), who stumbles across an injured mermaid at the lowest point in his life in the Gulf of Mexico.
Pemberton's depiction of Doug's crippling loneliness is what elevates the film from mere macabre art-house fare into a genuine exploration of companionship and love.
Cornack's film has not made that task very easy — there is no statuesque Daryl Hannah cavorting across the screen semi-nude — but rather a feral and horrifying mermaid creature Doug fondly names "Destiny" (Avery Potemri). Huge praise here for the practical effects behind the creature's design.
As Doug cares for Destiny, his personal life continues to spin wildly out of control, both with his ex-wife and young daughter, and especially with the loan sharks his drug habit has spawned — the latter played by Robert Patrick and Tyler Rice. Patrick, in particular, turns in a wonderfully over-the-top performance as an opportunistic loan shark who seems to regard Doug's desperation as little more than another business opportunity.
Cinematographer Joe Lavold captures the sweaty, humid grime of Florida with its purple and green neon luminescence. The result is that Florida becomes more and more its own character rather than simply a backdrop for the film.
Co-starring Kevin Nealon and Kevon Dunn, it is Pemberton's performance that ultimately gives **MERMAID** its beating heart. There is something surprisingly tender beneath all of Cornack's grotesque imagery and dark humor, much in the same way that **LARS AND THE REAL GIRL** (2007) found an unconventional relationship through which to explore the profound loneliness of someone desperately searching for human connection.
But where Lars found solace in a mannequin, Doug finds it in a wounded creature from the Gulf of Mexico — and somehow, Cornack makes us believe that this may be the most genuine relationship Doug has ever had.
That is what makes **MERMAID** so unexpectedly satisfying: beneath all the blood, grime, drugs, loan sharks, neon-soaked Florida nights and one truly horrifying mermaid is a simple story about two lonely creatures who, against all odds, find exactly what they have been searching for in one another.
Read full review
Mermaid (2025) claims to be a “love letter
JPRetana
Mermaid (2025) claims to be a “love letter to Florida.” Floridians shouldn’t expect their own Midnight in Paris. This film is closer to Leaving Las Vegas or…
Mermaid (2025) claims to be a “love letter to Florida.” Floridians shouldn’t expect their own Midnight in Paris. This film is closer to Leaving Las Vegas or Werner Herzog’s Bad Lieutenant vis-a-vis Sin City and NOLA, respectively.
Mentioning Mermaid in the same conversation as those two movies may not be a compliment to the Sunshine State, but it certainly is flattering to writer-director Tyler Cornack. While nowhere near as good, Mermaid is by no means bad. More importantly, it could be better, meaning there’s both room and potential for improvement.
The film is well shot and was well scouted before that. However fantastical, what happens undoubtedly takes place in Florida. It’s nice to see a mermaid movie that’s not only grounded in the reality of actual geographical locations but also depicts the titular creature as what it for all intents and purposes is: a “fucking fish.”
Destiny (Avery Potemri), as Doug (Johnny Pemberton) calls her, is ugly as sin, but her ugliness is brought to life through prosthetic makeup and performance — another breath of fresh air.
Speaking of air and breathing, the movie scores big in visual presentation but neglects the biology. It’s not that gill-bearing animals can’t survive out of the water; it’s that, as far as I can tell, the script doesn’t mention that certain species of fish can, albeit not for long. If the stakes of Destiny’s continued stay on dry land were made clearer, it would help cement the toxicity of Doug’s character — assuming that’s the point.
Although he professes to care about Destiny, Doug doesn’t seem aware that he may be doing her more harm than good by keeping her in his apartment and wheeling her to kiddie birthday parties. His negligence is doing a lot of thematic work. In this satirical subversion of Splash, Destiny looks like a monster but she’s the victim; meanwhile, ostensibly harmless oddball Doug is an emotional vampire.
Once that becomes apparent, it reframes the dynamic between Doug and his ex-wife, Tina (Julia Valentine Larson). Tina is initially portrayed as a stereotypical nagging ballbuster; however, the more we know Doug, the more we sympathize with Tina.
Instead of the existential threat to Destiny coming from her forced change of habitat, the screenplay has her re-kidnapped by Robert Patrick so that Doug can rescue her before Kevin Dunn can eat her alive — an outlandish development even for a film about a cryptid.
Actually, the climax is theoretically reminiscent of The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover, and it could have been similarly effective in practice had it been handled with the unflinching gaze of Peter Greenaway. Cornack is no Greenaway and botches both the setup and the execution.
Rather than showing us an unequivocal shot of someone eating someone who has been thoroughly cooked, he shows us a close-up of a fork digging into what I presume is Destiny’s tail, causing it to spurt computer-generated blood, followed by a reaction shot of Destiny. This raises the question of why Kevin Dunn is eating her raw — and not even sushi-raw but raw-raw. He complains that she’s “chewy” and tastes “like shit,” but then what did he expect?
This whole thing would have been more spectacular if Destiny had been properly deep fried, and more dramatic if Doug showed up to save her before she’s served. The latter would have allowed Cornack to retain the happy ending. I know it’s a happy ending because Doug smiles a cautiously optimistic smile before the screen fades to black. There isn’t much indication that he has had an epiphany and seen the error of his ways, but I guess that could be implied.
As for Destiny, we learn even less about her than we do about Doug. I believe less is more, and I understand that mystery is part of the allure of a mysterious creature. Still, Destiny is never not a fish out of water, and we never get to observe her in her natural habitat. It’s probably better that way, though, as that would have likely led to more shoddy CGI — which, even though is kept to a minimum, remains the film’s Achilles tail fin.
Before he dies, Dunn’s character has a speech the gist of which is that Florida is a strange, unpredictable place where anything can happen. I dunno. I’ve never been to Florida and even I know it must have a lot more to offer than shady, morally corrupt, emotionally defective creeps and strip joints. On the other hand, the fact that Cornack chose it as the setting of a mostly decent little flick — something most places are unable to brag about lately — is perhaps the greatest show of affection.
Read full review
★ 10 / 10
Awesome movie, great practical effects and compelling story
Ashley R.
Awesome movie, great practical effects and compelling story. So glad I got to see it in theaters. Horror aspects were fire, the story kept you hooked, the…
Awesome movie, great practical effects and compelling story. So glad I got to see it in theaters. Horror aspects were fire, the story kept you hooked, the visuals and the vibe delivered. Def recommend!
Read full review
92%
TOMATOMETER
· 25 reviews
92%
AUDIENCE
4.9/10
964
•••
Kinda OK I guess. Simple...