By I had no idea about The Lure until last night even though it played at Sundance last year. The Lure is now one of my most anticipated movies of 2017. The debut film from Agnieszka Smoczynska, The Lure is a horror/fantasy musical about carnivorous mermaids in Poland during the 1980s. Bonus: It’s being released by Janus Films, that stamp of quality that suggests full-throated endorsement by the Criterion Collection.
If that elevator pitch alone isn’t enough to sell you on The Lure, check out the trailer below. The trailer is NSFW since it contains some nudity.
In my brain, I am doing a Daniel Bryan “Yes” chant right now. If the trailer is any indication, The Lure may enter the oddball musical canon alongside Forbidden Zone or The American Astronaut.
Check out this official synopsis:
In this bold, genre-defying horror-musical mashup–the playful and confident debut of Polish director Agnieszka Smoczynska–a pair of carnivorous mermaid sisters are drawn ashore in an alternate ’80s Poland to explore the wonders and temptations of life on land. Their tantalizing siren songs and otherworldly aura make them overnight sensations as nightclub singers in the half-glam, half-decrepit fantasy world of Smoczynska’s imagining. In a visceral twist on Hans Christian Andersen’s original Little Mermaid tale, one sister falls for a human, and as the bonds of sisterhood are tested, the lines between love and survival get blurred. A savage coming-of-age fairytale with a catchy new-wave soundtrack, lavishly grimy sets, and outrageous musical numbers, THE LURE explores its themes of sexuality, exploitation, and the compromises of adulthood with energy and originality.
The Lure will open at the IFC Center here in New York City on February 1st. The film will eventually open nationwide. Check out the poster for the film below and in the gallery.
[EW via The Playlist]
