{"id":41392,"date":"2026-04-07T17:27:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/?p=41392"},"modified":"2026-04-07T17:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T00:35:47","slug":"mermaid-movie-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/behindthelensonline.net\/site\/reviews\/movies\/mermaid-movie-review\/","title":{"rendered":"MERMAID – A Feral Mermaid, a Broken Man, and Somehow…Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"

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There are films that announce exactly what they are\u2014and then there are films like MERMAID, from writer\/director Tyler Cornack, that dare you to sit with something strange long enough to discover what lies beneath.<\/p>\n

On paper, the premise alone sounds like a fever dream: a drug-addled Florida man named Doug finds an injured mermaid in the Gulf and, in his fragile, lonely state, begins to see her not as a creature\u2026 but as a girlfriend.<\/p>\n

Yes. That kind of movie.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing\u2014it works.<\/p>\n

And it works because of Doug.<\/p>\n

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Played with disarming sincerity by Johnny Pemberton, Doug is bumbling, hapless, and chemically compromised, but never cruel. There\u2019s an innocence to him\u2014a sweetness\u2014that immediately invites empathy. Even before the mermaid enters the picture, you understand the emotional void he\u2019s trying to fill. By the time he finds Destiny, you don\u2019t question his attachment\u2014you feel it.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where Cornack shows real growth as a storyteller.<\/p>\n

Following his earlier, gleefully twisted Butt Boy, MERMAID retains that offbeat sensibility but grounds it in something more human. This isn\u2019t weird for the sake of weird. It\u2019s weird with purpose.<\/p>\n

Because Destiny is no fairy tale.<\/p>\n

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This is not Splash<\/em>. This is not The Shape of Water<\/em>. This is something far more feral.<\/p>\n

With grotesque, vampiric teeth, erratic movement, and a tendency to spew black, tar-like bile, Destiny feels less like myth and more like a creature pulled from the depths of something unknowable. And yet\u2014through careful prosthetic work, performance, and lighting\u2014there are fleeting moments of unexpected beauty, a glimmer of something that Doug latches onto with desperate hope.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s uncomfortable. It\u2019s absurd. And it\u2019s strangely affecting.<\/p>\n

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What grounds all of this is Cornack\u2019s commitment to character and place. Florida isn\u2019t just a backdrop\u2014it\u2019s a living, breathing ecosystem of personalities. From beachside eccentrics to suburban oddities, the supporting cast feels pulled from lived experience rather than caricature, adding texture and authenticity to Doug\u2019s world. A scene-stealing Robert Patrick, sporting a tan that pushes past George Hamilton territory into something almost surreal, is just one of many perfectly pitched notes.<\/p>\n

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Visually, the film leans into realism over romanticism. Working with cinematographer Joe Levy, Cornack resists the temptation to stylize the fantastical. Much of the film unfolds in cramped, sunlit interiors, where the proximity between Doug and Destiny becomes palpable\u2014uncomfortable even. It\u2019s tactile. Immediate. And very, very Florida.<\/p>\n

Even the pacing mirrors Doug\u2019s internal state\u2014languid, slightly off-kilter, almost sedated\u2014allowing the film to drift just enough to pull you into his perspective.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s the music, composed by Cornack himself. Melancholic and atmospheric, it underscores the film\u2019s emotional undercurrent, quietly reminding us that beneath the absurdity lies something deeply sad.<\/p>\n

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Because MERMAID, for all its black goo and creature horror, is ultimately about loneliness.<\/p>\n

About the stories we tell ourselves to survive.<\/p>\n

About the connections we create\u2014real or imagined\u2014when faced with isolation.<\/p>\n

And somehow, against every instinct telling you otherwise, it lands with something resembling\u2026heart.<\/p>\n

Not a conventional love story.<\/p>\n

Not even a logical one.<\/p>\n

But in its own strange, offbeat way, a sincere one.<\/p>\n

And sometimes, that\u2019s more than enough.<\/p>\n

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Written and Directed by Tyler Cornack<\/p>\n

Cast:\u00a0\u00a0Johnny Pemberton, Avery Potemri, Kevin Nealon, Kirk Fox, Julia Larson, Devyn McDowell, and Tom Arnold with Robert Patrick and Kevin Dunn<\/p>\n

by debbie elias, 04\/05\/2026<\/p>\n

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MERMAID is in select theatres on April 8, 2026.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n