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Mermaid

Play trailer 1:32 Poster for Mermaid Apr 2026 1h 45m Comedy Fantasy Action Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
91% Tomatometer 23 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Doug is an awkward Florida drug addict. Divorced and alone, he shares custody of his young daughter with his ex. Doug's reeling from losing his job at a local strip club, where he takes care of the fish in the aquarium. Things are beyond bleak -- so Doug zips his boat out into the Gulf to end the pain of his reality. But at his lowest point, he discovers an injured Mermaid creature clinging to life. For Doug, it's a sign from the Universe -- so he brings her home, gives her shelter in his tub and begins to nurse her back to health. He even names her Destiny. As their rapport blossoms, word of his secret gets out and he is forced to protect his new friend by any means necessary.

Critics Reviews

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Maxwell Rabb Slant Magazine Apr 1
2.5/4
Ultimately, Mermaid shows how loneliness can un-anchor a person, and it makes you understand how any lost sailor might fall for the first thing, no matter what it is, that breaks it. Go to Full Review
Matt Zoller Seitz RogerEbert.com 03/25/2025
In the end, “Mermaid” is more a promising first effort than a fully satisfying experience. Go to Full Review
Aimee Hart Polygon 4d
Mermaid challenges our expectations about relationships and what they can mean for different people, picking up where Del Toro left off and taking the concept even further. Go to Full Review
Dennis Harvey 48 Hills Apr 14
While not everything here works (veteran Patrick makes a good villain, but he’s really over-indulged in some scenes), the sum is an eccentric original. Go to Full Review
Alyssa Christian Next Best Picture Apr 10
6/10
Sure, the title is unoriginal, but its presentation is not. Of course, it’s nowhere near as good as "Splash," but it doesn’t need to be. Go to Full Review
Luna Guthrie Collider Apr 9
3/10
Despite an inviting premise, strong cast, and alleged horror-comedy leanings, the film is not horrific, it is not comedic, and it somehow makes watching a guy fall for a monstrous sea-creature tedious. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mark F @MarkJames77 1h Not for the simple minded. I personally love movies that take a realistic view of something fantastical. Tyler Cornack does a great job of that. Very smart writing. It’s not a broad comedy with a bunch of huge laughs, it’s not a horror, but if you’re seeing where he’s going with it you pick up on that pretty quickly. There are some hilarious moments, but the humor is more subtle than you might be expecting. I’d recommend seeing Butt Boy and Tiny Cinema Movie first and it’ll make a lot more sense, but if you’re into movies like Lars & the Real Girl, Rushmore, etc, you’re gonna love this. See more Tyler E. @Lordy100639 3h Weird and entertaining but nothing special See more joel G @davidbondo 23h what a horrible SLOW moving movie.. Kept waiting and waiting for it to get better.. NEVER did.. about 25% of theater walked out.. I stayed hoping the ending was going to be a twist. It was not.. the person that made this movie should be scalped and thrown to the wolves. Such a low budget movie ,I bet it cost all of 10 k to make..FINAL grade : F+.. this person would fail film school and have to repeat the whole 2 year program again.. See more Dylan 3d perfectly weird, Florida and a great time! See more Jonathan O. @YuzkonJack Apr 10 What a disastrously bad movie.lacking in neither laughs nor horror, nor insight. Painful to watch. Bizarre in an utterly boring way. A guy fell asleep in the theater and loudly snored. Avoid at all costs! A single, singular highlight was Robert Patrick (of T2 fame) as a drug-addicted, small time criminal. See more B P @Bradster69 Apr 9 A Creature Feature Comedy with Bite and Heart See more Read all reviews
Mermaid

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Movie Info

Synopsis Doug is an awkward Florida drug addict. Divorced and alone, he shares custody of his young daughter with his ex. Doug's reeling from losing his job at a local strip club, where he takes care of the fish in the aquarium. Things are beyond bleak -- so Doug zips his boat out into the Gulf to end the pain of his reality. But at his lowest point, he discovers an injured Mermaid creature clinging to life. For Doug, it's a sign from the Universe -- so he brings her home, gives her shelter in his tub and begins to nurse her back to health. He even names her Destiny. As their rapport blossoms, word of his secret gets out and he is forced to protect his new friend by any means necessary.
Director
Tyler Cornack
Producer
Cole Eckerle, Dane Eckerle, Daniel Brandt
Screenwriter
Tyler Cornack
Distributor
Utopia
Production Co
Bad Grey
Genre
Comedy, Fantasy, Action, Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 8, 2026, Limited
Runtime
1h 45m
Aspect Ratio
Digital 2.39:1