Synopsis

The Lure is an offbeat film that tells the story of two mermaid sisters who encounter a family that decides to take them under their wing and into their cabaret club. The girls perform with the club’s matriarch before eventually becoming the stars of their own act. However, the fate of the cabaret and that of the siren sisters is threatened when one of them falls madly in love and decides to rebel against her nature—giving up her tail for legs.

In this sensational feature debut by Polish filmmaker Agnieszka Smoczynska, genres are mashed-up and conventions are ignored at will, wickedly reinterpreting Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” for the postmodern age. Smoczynska’s twisted vision of an alternate 1980s Poland not only explores the coming-of-age story in a remarkably fresh way, but also heralds an exciting new voice in European cinema. Programmed as part of our Women in Charge section, Smoczynska film is one of three that shines the spotlight on women filmmakers, in acknowledgement of the structural and institutional challenges they face.

Movie Trailer