Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. I typically watch films with audio description, though it was not made available with the screener, however, this film is still in the festival circuit, and could acquire a distributor that would add it.

I’m actually being asked to review two separate films named Mermaid, at the same time. The other film has a later embargo, so this one makes it out of the gate first. This is the film that will give your MAGA Uncle a heart attack. So make sure to show it to them. I’m kidding. Or am I?

Mermaid is a gender identity drama about Cass, who we first meet when they are trying to drown themselves, but they luckily are saved, This kid then finds their way into a drag bar, where all the queens seems to be a lot like them. Cass basically attaches themselves to pepper, a sarcastic queen using attitude to mask their grief, and Pepper reluctantly becomes a role model for Cass, teaching them how to do their own makeup, which they keep trying to do on their own. Cass has dreams of being a mermaid in an upcoming parade. But, standing in their way is cass’s father, who does not like that his son is the way they are, and doesn’t understand why Cass keeps dressing in women’s clothes, and wearing makeup. the final straw is learning that Cass has been hanging out with a drag queen, and Cass’s pronouns are she/her. Not ready for any of this, and still trying to move past the death of his wife, Cass’s father sends him away to conversion therapy. Will Cass’s father have a change of heart? Can Pepper change hearts and minds? Did someone who is deeply concerned about the trans athlete epidemic we apparently are having that just reading this made their head explode? These are questions.

Director Fia Perera is on the right track with this film. In her directors notes, I read all of her reasonings, and it does feel exactly like what she claims it to be born from. It feels like an activist film, one that answers the hate on the other side with a heartwarming story of acceptance. However, it feels a little clunky in the execution. If I had been gifted a chance to reshape the film, I might have tried to invest us more in the ever present dead mother of cass, a character felt, that could have answered a lot of questions about Cass watching them, possibly learning makeup skills from them. Perhaps the dad is reacting only out of fear, forgetting that his late wife was perfectly fine with it. The film kinda sorta goes there anyway, but there’s something to be said for Cass’s mother having drowned, Cass trying to repeat that, and also being obsessed with Mermaids. Cass is also attached to Pepper, as a mother figure, and perhaps being able to see more similarities might have helped strengthen the base of the film. Also, this film needs more drag queens. I feel like Pepper was at a drag bar, or club, and there was maybe one queen with any other substantial roles?

And, if you’re going to do conversion therapy, do the damn thing. Don’t be afraid that it drags down your film. it feels like something Fia wanted to get out of really quickly, just enough to acknowledge it sucks. of course it does. This film is largely preaching to the choir anyway, though enriching the story, the characters, and deepening the ensemble makes the film feel more organically beautiful, and less like a response to anti-trans legislation.

However, kudos to the casting team for finding Devyn McDowell to play Cass. The non-binary actor does a lovely job of helping Cass show who she truly is inside, and has some fun moments. Cass is clearly ready to grow up, and get away from the things in her life that she doesn’t want or understand. she doesn’t see herself as a boy, and her dad’s persistence in this issue certainly makes her want to spend even more time outside of the house.McDowell’s performance is lovely, even in a rather over the top sequence where I cringed when I heard the phrase “if you really loved me”. It was an oddly placed scene, and word, that made me wonder what Cass was thinking in that moment, when pleading a certain character to run away with them.

The other excellent casting choice is Arturo Luiz Soria as Pepper, who does have the fire to back up Pepper’s saltiness. Pepper cannot be bothered, and yet is. Arturo does a lovely job with a lot of the widowed stuff, but occasionally has a line that falls flat.it did make me wonder about the inception factor of being an actor playing the role of a man who also plays a drag queen, and trying to find the balance of when pepper is on, and when pepper is off. But, Arturo has a few moments here, that if he’s cutting a reel together still for casting purposes, are knockout moments. And, Nat Faxon is cast against type as the dad who doesn’t understand, but makes it work, and it allows for him to come full circle. I might have even enjoyed a bit more time with him and Cassie at the end, showing how happiness prevails when thinking minds do as well.

It isn’t a perfect film, but like more than a few films, it is championed by a young talent worth every dime. Devyn McDowell is a star in the making.

I won’t claim Mermaid is perfect, but it does have its heart in the right place, and features stunning work from McDowell and Soria. Even if it preaches to the choir, the choir should be entertained.

Fresh: 7.1/10