Lure, The (2017)
Matt Boiselle
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Starring Marta Mazurek, Michalina Olszanska, Kinga Preis
Directed by Agnieska Smoczynska
Oh, those magnificent nymphs of the sea – I’m talking about mermaids: those mythical fin-tailed sirens who have been known to croon their song to lonely sailors and drag them to their deaths. Interestingly enough, director Agnieska Smoczynska’s latest film, The Lure, relies heavily on the usage of song as a communicative measure, and combines it with a little crimson in the water, if ya catch my drift – all in all, an extremely (ahem) “interesting” take on the tale of the water spirit.
Set against the backdrop of an 80’s type nightclub, two of the aforementioned enchantresses are hired by the club’s owner in the hopes of livening up the paying crowd. We’re then introduced to our two damsels of the ocean: Golden (Mazurek) and Silver (Olszanska), and the two immediately become a hit with the patrons, and one of the gilled gals even has a budding love interest in Mietik (Jakub Gierszal), the house band’s guitarist. This attraction doesn’t sit well with the other mermaid, and conflict becomes a front-and-center issue rather quickly, and let me tell you: when these ladies are pissed off, the teeth come out in sharp quantities, and the blood will flow in mass quantities. Take all of this love and hatred, singing, spoken dialogue, and bodacious beauty – chuck it into a blender, and hit “symphonious.” Now while this format might not seem like one that falls under the horror scope, there are certain images that could be deemed as disturbing to some…and not everyone digs musicals either, so there’s that.
Visually, the film is a winner with its ever-changing color palette that sometimes reflects the overall moods on display, but the plot is forcibly thin and only the performances of Mazurek and Olszanska can fish this chum out of the water, and the contrast of one mermaid attempting to find love, while the other wants to feed is an interesting one at best. My advice to those willing to cast their lines into the blue of this one: keep your rod and reel close to the boat, as you could get yanked in after listening to the first sonorous refrains – in layman’s terms, if musical’s aren’t your gig, skip this one, but if the idea of ravenous pixies of the tide gets your outboard motor runnin’, then dive on in.
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Film
Categorized:Reviews
