Coalescing the elements of horror, comedy, romance, musical, fantasy & coming-of-age drama into one abstract & ambitious fairytale, The Lure is an art-house endeavour that brims with fresh ingredients but it isn't a film for all. While some may be enamoured by its uniqueness, others will despise it for its muddy premise.Set in Warsaw during the 1980s, The Lure follows a pair of mermaid sisters who are adopted by a family of musicians and are soon enlisted for gigs at the nightclub they regularly perform at. While one of them seeks companionship with the humans, the other is unable to escape her bloodthirsty nature and kills people with zero remorse.Directed by Agnieszka Smoczyńska, The Lure is no doubt arresting from the visual standpoint and adds few new things to the mermaid lore but it also becomes repetitive after a while and is unable to immerse the viewers into its tale or make them invest in the characters inhabiting it. Also, there is no explanation for the significance of its 1980s setting.The atmosphere is mysterious & sexually charged, songs are intriguing & tuneful, romance subplot feels forced, while the horror part is only present in bits n pieces. The chemistry between the two girls playing the mermaids is electric and fascinating to watch but the rest of the cast barely has any meat on them, and their presence makes no difference whatsoever.On an overall scale, The Lure is a finely envisioned & well conceptualised idea but it's also poorly executed. Its plot is intriguing but never engaging, its images are aesthetically pleasing but never alluring, and although the effort is commendable, it's never emotionally involving. Promising & flavourful at first, it doesn't take long for The Lure to turn into a pungent smelling sea foam.

The Lure is about two mermaids who come work at the cabaret. The film is never shy about female nudity but also thankfully doesn't feel too exploitative (though that imbalance is definitely worth noting). The film has fun rock numbers interspersed with falling in love and, well, murders. It ultimately boils down to the non- Disney version of The Little Mermaid. The leads were good, with Michalina being the more magnetic and confident actress. The film has some story leaps I didn't particularly care for and The Little Mermaid similarities made it too predictable for me, but plus points for originality, that fantastic tail design, and for Agnieszka Smoczynska just going for it all the way.

spoiler alert. this is basically your run of the mill vampire movie, only with mermaids. two sisters are discovered and brought to a polish night club, strip joint, what have you, and become singing sensations. they also eat their men folk. they turn into mermaids when they are doused with water or get thrown into it. one of sisters falls in love with a band member and it will not turn out well. we know this because we are told in advance what is going to happen. the disco music is a bit of a surprise and some fun for a while. but it's all pretty dreary stuff. I must say that the mermaid concept itself is very well done. the sisters actually look as if they have tails. a lot of people started checking their electronic devices after about an hour. never a good sign. I mention this, because when I saw "split" not one person in the audience took out their phone. that is not an endorsement for that movie.

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.