The movie is based heavily on Rusalka, the Russian fairytale version of a mermaid. They are often unmarried women who commit suicide and drown their victims or tickle them to death. It is very accurate in its depiction of Rusalka, from what I can tell as someone who is not Russian.
The acting is above average, and the casting choices are great. The main actress, Viktoriya Agalakova, is very convincing and emotional. I also love the casting choice for the "mermaid." Sofia Shidlovskaya has an ethereal air to her, and every time she is on screen without the distracting CG effects, she is convincing.
The English voice acting can be a little bit distracting, especially with Roma's best friend Ilya, who has a stereotypical bully voice that does not fit his character, in my opinion. Other than that exception, the English voice acting is solid.
Now to my biggest gripe with this movie: the CG and jumpscares. The CG is simply terrible. It would have been much more effective to do only a bit of SFX makeup reminiscent of the movie poster.
The worst mistakes are the completely unnecessary jumpscares. The movie does so well to build up tension and atmosphere through its great direction and pictures, but simply ruins it with every jump scare thrown in your face. This movie did not need any of them to be a dark fairytale.
The script had a lot of potential. It has a solid ending and takes up points made throughout the movie to tie them all together in the end, like Marina jumping into the water to save Roma or hair having special powers. I, however, do not like how the movie was structured. We "beat" the mermaid far too many times with several red herrings throughout the movie before her curse is eventually lifted for good. It's a shame these mistakes weigh so heavily while the rest of the execution of the movie is great.
The acting is above average, and the casting choices are great. The main actress, Viktoriya Agalakova, is very convincing and emotional. I also love the casting choice for the "mermaid." Sofia Shidlovskaya has an ethereal air to her, and every time she is on screen without the distracting CG effects, she is convincing.
The English voice acting can be a little bit distracting, especially with Roma's best friend Ilya, who has a stereotypical bully voice that does not fit his character, in my opinion. Other than that exception, the English voice acting is solid.
Now to my biggest gripe with this movie: the CG and jumpscares. The CG is simply terrible. It would have been much more effective to do only a bit of SFX makeup reminiscent of the movie poster.
The worst mistakes are the completely unnecessary jumpscares. The movie does so well to build up tension and atmosphere through its great direction and pictures, but simply ruins it with every jump scare thrown in your face. This movie did not need any of them to be a dark fairytale.
The script had a lot of potential. It has a solid ending and takes up points made throughout the movie to tie them all together in the end, like Marina jumping into the water to save Roma or hair having special powers. I, however, do not like how the movie was structured. We "beat" the mermaid far too many times with several red herrings throughout the movie before her curse is eventually lifted for good. It's a shame these mistakes weigh so heavily while the rest of the execution of the movie is great.