Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: MERMAID [SXSW Film 2025 - Austin, Texas]
The context of "Mermaid" [Narrative Spotlight] has more to do with the essence of character than anything supernatural. Starting off the movie as it does shows that this will be a farce in most perspectives though the choice of overall casting is interesting, comedic and, at times, inspired. The film really is not what one would think but like most Florida authors, it finds itself in a notion of camp simply by the necessity of its surroundings. Johnny Pemberton stars as Doug, a guy who just happens to exist but who is both coasting and trying to find a reason for existence. The context of the film revolves around that he owes money to a loan shark (Robert Patrick) but he also looks for love in all the wrong places. Of course, a mermaid shows up in his midst but it is done in the way that it should be: with a sense of the grotesque. But that said Doug himself is a sense of the grotesque in many ways.
He can't connect with his daughter who came from a one night stand. He can't keep a job because he creeps the girls at the strip club out. He puts all his energy into this being that he rescues although it is more weird than anything else. But Doug himself is a creepy guy who can't quite solve his own problems anyways. But maybe he is not meant to. Also any film that can mix up Kevin Nealon, Robert Patrick, Kevin Dunn and Tom Arnold in the same story has some interesting cahones. Plus it seems the film was short around the St. Petersburg area so a certain kind of vacation was had for some people. As the film expands in its approach, it takes on an almost bumbling private detective noir element giving it both a sense of farce but also an underlying sadness in the lead character, even when he comes to bear with what he actually is. The final scenes do rest in the nature of the primal but Doug is who he is...no matter what anyone else wants to make him. "Mermaid" is a love letter to Florida acccording to the director. Having lived in Florida, it is an ode to the weirdness of the place under the veil of a blazing simmering sun. B
By Tim Wassberg
