Genre: Fantasy | Horror | Thriller | Eco-Mythology
Director: Jennifer Kent (The Babadook)
Written by: Zak Olkewicz & Jennifer Kent
Starring:

• Anya Taylor-Joy as Dr. Elara Voss

• Florence Pugh as Nerida, a mermaid queen

• Luke Evans as Commander Owen Beckett

• Tzi Ma as Professor Shen, a mythologist

• Mia Goth as The Siren Oracle

Produced by: A24 Studios & Legendary Pictures
Release Date: October 2025

🌊 Plot Overview

Invasion of the Mermaids turns the age-old myth of mermaids on its head—replacing enchanting songstresses of the sea with apex predators awakened by climate imbalance and ancient betrayal.

In the near future, deep-sea drilling off the Mariana Trench awakens a buried civilization thought to be nothing more than folklore. When sonar buoys begin picking up unnatural frequencies and entire fleets go missing, marine biologist Dr. Elara Voss (Anya Taylor-Joy) is recruited to investigate a supposed “oceanic anomaly.” What she discovers is beyond science—an entire aquatic race of hyper-evolved mermaids, long hidden in the depths, and now rising with fury.

Their queen, Nerida (Florence Pugh), seeks not peace, but retribution—for her people’s imprisonment beneath poisoned waters and centuries of human arrogance. The invasion begins not with missiles, but with tides that bring death.

🧜 Mermaids: A New Mythos

Gone are the romanticized versions of sirens with flowing hair and sultry songs. These mermaids are warriors of the deep—sleek, bioluminescent, intelligent, and terrifyingly coordinated. With razor-sharp fins, psionic communication, and the ability to weaponize sound through echolocation, they command oceans like empires.

The film crafts a unique mythology around these creatures—tying them to ancient Polynesian, Celtic, and East Asian folklore, suggesting that global legends were based on encounters now buried by time and fear.

💥 Themes & Depth

• Environmental Reckoning: The invasion is a direct result of humanity’s destruction of the oceanic balance.

• Rewriting Legends: The film challenges perceptions of femininity in mythology—these mermaids aren’t helpless beauties; they’re sovereign, strategic, and terrifying.

• The Cost of Ignorance: Through haunting sequences and philosophical monologues, the film explores how civilization ignores ancient warnings until it’s too late.

🎭 Standout Performances

• Anya Taylor-Joy gives a layered performance as a rational scientist grappling with the collapse of known reality.

• Florence Pugh delivers cold grace and tragic power as Nerida, blurring the line between villain and liberator.

• Mia Goth’s eerie, prophetic presence as The Siren Oracle adds psychological horror that lingers long after.

🎥 Visuals & Sound

Filmed with a blend of practical underwater sequences and high-end VFX, the film captures the ocean as both a breathtaking wonder and a claustrophobic graveyard.

The creature design is by Legacy Effects, inspired by deep-sea creatures like anglerfish, jellyfish, and prehistoric sharks—making the mermaids both ethereal and monstrous. The sound design is a standout: haunting whale-song-inspired scores, sonar bursts, and bone-chilling siren shrieks that replace traditional dialogue in key scenes.

🔍 Director’s Vision

Jennifer Kent describes the film as:

“A mythological reckoning. We’ve romanticized the sea and its mysteries for centuries, but what if its true legacy was not to enchant us—but to outlast us?”

🎬 Key Set Pieces

• The Cape Town Collapse: Mermaids breach a coastal city using sonar waves to bring down skyscrapers.

• The Abyssal Cathedral: A haunting underwater temple sequence where Elara confronts the truth of humanity’s sins.

• Final Battle in the Mariana Rift: An immersive, large-scale underwater war between the last human oceanic defense fleet and the mermaid queen’s armada.

📈 Anticipation & Reception

Early buzz from film festivals hails Invasion of the Mermaids as “The Shape of Water meets Annihilation” with a haunting ecological twist. Critics are praising its bold reinvention of folklore, terrifying atmosphere, and thought-provoking subtext.

It is already generating Oscar buzz for visual design and original score, composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker, Chernobyl).

🧜‍♀️ Final Verdict

Invasion of the Mermaids (2025) is not a fantasy fairy tale—it is a visceral, myth-driven horror of reckoning and rebirth, wrapped in beautiful terror. With an all-star cast, sharp direction, and an unforgettable new creature mythos, it may redefine how we view mermaids, monsters, and the oceans we’ve long taken for granted.

“They waited. Now they rise.”

Related movies: