In 1980s Poland, two mermaids hear their own siren song: a fair haired boy playing an indie ballad on the shoreline. Leaving the water for the world of humans, the mermaids eventually front their very own synth pop band. Welcome to the horror-musical-fantasy world of The Lure (2015; Córki dancingu), which revolves around a nightclub where music is played to performing strippers and dancing customers; everyone – from sleazy owners, sweaty patrons and kitchen staff – bob their heads and tap their feet to the propulsive beat. Following the trajectory of The Little Mermaid, this film returns the darkness to the original fairytale as these mermaids can turn into fanged monsters happy to feed on stray humans; their presence is also casually accepted by the nightclub management as the working bar band, Figs N Dates, takes in these creatures as their back-up singers. For a cross-genre production, a lot of things have to go right for all of this weirdness to work. The music by sisters Barbara Wrońska and Zuzanna Wrońska offers catchy tunes, the special effects are effectively grotesque, and there’s style to burn in the nightclub atmosphere, a lot of which is based on the memories of director Agnieszka Smoczyńska and writer Robert Bolesto (as well as the sisters Wronska who were initially the basis for the story). Marta Mazurek and Michalina Olszańska are great as the mermaids, named Silver and Golden respectively, who eventually follow their own individual desires in this metaphor for adolescence; Silver falls in love with a human while Golden satisfies her animalistic hunger. There’s an excellent supporting cast, particularly the distinctive band mates, Kinga Preis, Jakub Giersal, and Andrzej Konopka. The first half has the giddy highs of a band biopic while the second half can’t help but lose a bit of steam with the inevitable dissolution; I also wished wish that the closing credits song was its own musical sequence for some closure. Still, The Lure is a unique, stylish and at times confronting experience; it’s like if a freaky Goldfrapp song came to life as a movie. Available to stream in the Criterion Channel. Recommended.
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