It has its moments. It has its problems. It is weird for the sake of weird. You can tell people you have seen it. But it is basically The Little Mermaid getting punched in the face a lot.

Lethal, but lovely and enchanting mermaid sisters Golden (striking brunette Michalina Olszanska) and Silver (adorable redhead Marta Mazurek) decide to go ashore in 1980's Warsaw, Poland. The pair make a big splash working as strippers and singers at a seedy nightclub. However, complications ensue when Silver falls for bassist Mietek (amiable Jakub Gierszal) while Golden can't resist her natural predatory urge to eat people's hearts.Director Agnieszka Smoczynska ably crafts an intoxicating dreamlike atmosphere tinged with dread and melancholy as well as adroitly uses the novel premise as a means of exploring such topics as the hypnotic power of unbridled female sexuality, adolescent rites of passage including puberty and maturity, male exploitation of women, and the objectification of the female body by men. Moreover, Smoczynska and screenwriter Robert Bolesto not only offer a deliciously bold and inventive blend of horror, fantasy, and musical elements, but also toss in a tragic love story for extra poignant measure. Mazurek and Olszanska both possess an otherworldly beauty that make them incredibly sexy and credible as irresistible sea sirens; they receive fine support from Kinga Preiss as aging, but still sultry cabaret singer Krysia, Zymunt Malanowicz as the sleazy nightclub manager, and Marcin Kowalczyk as scruffy punk Triton. Jakub Kijowski's vibrant widescreen cinematography gives this film a sparkling neon look. Further enhanced by an infectiously bouncy and catchy synth-pop soundtrack, this truly singular oddity comes highly recommended.

One would think that a story of predatory mermaids taking a holiday in a seedy cabaret could only be a disaster, but the filmmakers made it work here. This is a bit of a dark movie. I wish I understood Polish, because the subtitled lyrics of the songs were clunky compared with the fine voices of the leads playing the siren sisters.Most of the musical numbers and dancing were well-choreographed, but a couple of sequences didn't quite gel. A bit less time is devoted to developing the most critical romance of the movie than it needed, which unfortunately lets a bit of air out of the ending. The visuals and effects were surprisingly good. The mermaid tails especially were well done, with details such as broken scales and scars adding chilling realism. Be warned that some parts of the movie are a bit gruesome; the critical difference between traditional mermaids and their darker cousins is made clear on several occasions. Younger children probably shouldn't watch.There are quite a few movies written around mermaids, but this is the first I have seen about sirens. Hollywood, take note-"The Lure" demonstrates that this area has a lot of dramatic potential.All in all, definitely worth a one-time watch.

I just came from a screening of this movie at the filmPolska festival in Berlin. I enjoyed it more than I expected, because the film description made me a bit apprehensive. But it turned out very good! I enjoyed the unexpected mix of comedy, drama, music, horror, fairy tale and a bit of eroticism. It also had a nice flair of the 1980s Poland. The visual part of the film is great: the mermaids are very realistic (if you can say that about a mermaid), with long and heavy fishtails, and the actresses give a great performance. Despite their prettiness, the mermaid sisters look inhuman, animalistic. Mermaids are said to sing extraordinary beautiful song to attract men (and then kill them, heh), so I think it was a difficult task to create music to reflect this. However, it worked brilliantly. I was also pleasantly surprised by the subtle eroticism which never bordered with vulgarity. (It was also great to see a love scene between two women, I didn't expect it from a Polish movie.) Great job!