THE LURE

released OUT NOW! 2015 | 15 | Blu-ray

Director agnieszka smoczynska Cast Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Kinga Preis, andrzej Konopka Not all beautiful girls are sweet-natured, and not all mermaids stay in the sea. In her feature debut, Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska transports the Little Mermaid fairytale to the 1980s, where two sisters called Golden (Michalina Olszanska) and Silver (Marta Mazurek) emerge from the ocean, drawn to the lights of a small-town strip club. While one sister falls in love with a musician, the other feasts upon the hearts of men.

Forget shell bras and fish companions. Smoczynska’s mermaids aren’t storybook princesses, but waxen, half-feral creatures with slick, grey-scaled tails. One memorable scene sees Golden slither down the beach with a sickening squelch, a fresh heart in her mouth. And while there are flirty scenes of girls dancing and enough body horror to please a glutton, the film is really an allegory about objectifying young women.

A fairytale horror musical will sound like a nightmare for some, but there’s so much here to relish. We just have one niggle: there’s no explanation for why mermaids drink the blood of men, and we want to know much more!

Extras A Making Of, featuring interviews with the director, lead actors, screenwriter, composers, sound designer and choreographer; deleted scenes; two short films; an essay by novelist Angela Lovell; trailer.