Surrealist “Florida Man” Horror Comedy Fails To Excite

Mermaid is bound to be one of the weirdest movies in theaters in 2026, for better and worse. The surrealist horror comedy always keeps an eye on what it set out to do, which is to be a love letter to Florida through the lens of an intimate story with fantasy elements that could only work via Johnny Pemberton’s Doug, the epitome of the Florida Man. A drug-addicted loner, Doug ends up finding an injured mermaid at the lowest point in his life, and with nothing else really going on for him, he decides to nurse her back to health. He ultimately has to grow into being the only one who can protect her from all the horrors awaiting them in Florida.

Mermaid Works In Its Goal To Celebrate Florida

Mermaid is a peculiar film, but while it has its fair share of issues, it does succeed in its main mission. In an age when many mainstream hits have been heavily criticized for using muted colors, Mermaid goes in the opposite direction. The movie’s representation of Florida comes with a saturated color palette that makes it gorgeous to look at any given point. In the same sense that movies like The Batman managed to make its setting feel like its own character in the story, with the DC movie using a darker color palette and a moody tone to make Gotham City jump from the comics to the big screen, Mermaid absolutely makes Florida a main character. Visually, the film feels like the warmest embrace possible.

Mermaid traverses multiple genres, but it cuts its teeth in the surrealist comedy that was Cornack’s go-to in his prior movies…

This also helps create the perfect contrast between the sunny setting and Doug’s dark state of mind. Pemberton’s character gets fired early in the movie, with Mermaid subsequently taking him on a downward spiral before he finds the light at the end of the tunnel. As the world and the characters around him carry this vibrant energy, Doug’s melancholia offers a nice counterpoint. Additionally, writer-director Tyler Cornack comes up with wild situations that could only be possible for the internet phenomenon that is the concept of the Florida Man, which the film even references toward the end in dialogue. Mermaid traverses multiple genres, but it cuts its teeth in the surrealist comedy that was Cornack’s go-to in his prior movies, Butt Boy and Tiny Cinema. The setting is crucial for making that work.

Despite Compelling Visuals, Mermaid Lacks Excitement

A movie is only as good as its characters and story allow it to be. While Mermaid is a gorgeous piece of art to look at, it lacks the excitement to make viewers sit through its excruciatingly slow pacing. Not all movies need to be action-packed, and that was never Mermaid‘s goal, despite what its opening, horror-themed mermaid encounter might have led one to believe. However, for a film that sets out to take viewers into the mind of a broken man clinging to his last shot at change, Mermaid does not pack the emotional punch that is needed to hook the audience all the way through.

…there were so many more interesting ways the film could have gone.

Pemberton has a natural charisma that shines through in every role the actor has taken on so far, like that of Thaddeus in Prime Video’s sci-fi hit Fallout. That is always at odds with Doug’s behavior in Mermaid. There are moments when you sympathize with the character, but there are also a lot of times when his predicament seems to be his own doing. Aside from Pemberton, the only other noteworthy performance in Mermaid comes from Robert Patrick, who has a lot of fun with the gruff Ron.

Their work aside, Mermaid is simply not an entertaining movie to watch. Its characters lack any real likability, the pacing is slow, its story is largely uneventful, and the viewer will be left feeling uncomfortable for most of its duration. Based on how Doug is set up at the start, and the absurd concept of him taking care of a mermaid, there were so many more interesting ways the film could have gone. That Doug seeing an injured mermaid at sea and falling in love with her serves as a modern take on the legend of sailors losing their minds on long sea voyages and succumbing to the sirens’ song is not lost on me. That concept could really pack a punch if treated right. Sadly, aside from the sporadic absurdity, Mermaid is largely boring.

Mermaid will release in select theaters on Wednesday, April 8.