The Lure (2015 film)

The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen influenced the story.

Director Agnieszka Smoczyńska called the film a "coming-of-age story", echoing her own youth. She recalled that her mother ran a nightclub, where she had her "first shot of vodka, first cigarette, first sexual disappointment and first important feeling for a boy." The mermaids were an abstraction that allowed her to tell her story without revealing too much of herself.[1] The screenwriter Robert Bolesto sought to write a story based on two friends of his that frequented nightclubs in the 80s, which enthused Smoczyńska and resonated with her own childhood.[2]

Smoczyńska also wanted the film to be a retelling of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen,[2] and developed her idea of mermaids from tales of the 14th–16th century that described them as the sisters of dragons, and hence made them part monstrous.[3] She invented their need to feed on human hearts and that propensity to attack the larynx of their victims.[4]

Smoczyńska likened the mermaids to immigrants, abused by the locals (used in the sex industry) on their way to their real goal—America. She added they represent innocence, yet their odour and slime recalled girls maturing, "they menstruate, they ovulate, their bodies start smelling and feeling different."[3] David Ehrlich of IndieWire, noting the mermaids' "bodies are a source of constant fascination", said that "The Lure is having some fun with chauvinist objectification; the film has a funny habit of lambasting dumb misogynist rhetoric by applying it literally."[5]

The film had a mixed reception in Poland.[6] On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 88% based on 64 reviews, with an average rating of 7.08/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Lure adds a sexually charged, genre-defying twist to well-established mermaid lore, more than overpowering its flaws through sheer variety and wild ambition."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 72 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11]

Giuseppe Sedia of the Krakow Post wrote that Smoczynska's debut feature is a "cinematic act of love towards Poland’s capital city in the 1980s with its sparkling neon signs, lighthearted nightlife, and ability to knock back gallons of vodka in its best days".[12] Rubina Ramji, film editor and reviewer for the Journal of Religion and Film, described the film as a "rock opera, a horror movie and fairytale story about mermaids all rolled up into one".[3] Guy Lodge of Variety praised it for its originality, describing it as "never less than arresting, and sometimes even a riot". However, he felt the screenplay lacked ideas in portraying the mermaids' vampiric attributes, and was unsure of the film's 1980s setting and whether it alluded to the politics of the time.[6] IndieWire critic David Ehrlich gave it a B+, calling it "the best goth musical about man-eating mermaids ever made".[5]

The Lure garnered 14,899 admissions in its opening weekend in Poland from 112 cinemas, finishing at fifth place.[13] The film received 41,776 admissions in total.[14]

On its North American opening weekend in February 2017, The Lure grossed $7,370 in one theatre. It finished its run on 4 May 2017 with a gross of $101,657 total in North America.[15]