MERMAID: LAKE OF THE DEAD (2018)

 

(a.k.a. THE MERMAID: LAKE OF THE DEAD; directors: Svyatoslav Podgaevskiy, who co-wrote the screenplay, and Christopher Bevins, the latter of whom co-directed the English-dub version. Other screenwriters: Natalya Dubovaya and Ivan Kaptionov. Unrated.)

 

Review

A young, quiet woman (Marina) with natatophobia, a fear of swimming—begun by her mother’s drowning years ago—must save herself and her fiancé (Roma Kitaev) after he’s seduced by a malevolent and perception-shifting mermaid (long ago an unmarried, drowned woman named Lisa Gregorieva), a rapacious being who wants to permanently bring Roma into her watery realm. As Roma’s relentless beguiler further claims him, Marina struggles with her darker aspects and family secrets.

Often tinted in Anton Zenkovich’s aquatic colors (various shades of green and blue, mixed with faint yellow), this slick Russian theatrical update of a Slavic myth about unwed drowned women becoming demonic mermaids is beautifully shot and especially vivid, with tight editing (courtesy of Anton Komrakov). The lots-of-camera-movement filmmakers effectively maintain the sometimes spooky, water-based theme (visually and otherwise). Evgeny Golubenko and Midhun’s visual FX are largely convincing, though some of the movie’s CGI’d mermaid is generic-looking in look and action. Additionally, the mermaid is too powerful in her psychic/perception-tweaking abilities (e.g., making doors shut, miles away from her deadly lake), and most of the characters are underdeveloped, sometimes Plot Convenient Dumb caricatures (even most of the actors’ solid acting can’t fix that). MERMAID is probably not the worst film you’ll see, but don’t be surprised if you forget about it five minutes after it ends.