Written by Cat Wilson, of catthewilson.com

Today’s pick is the Polish horror pop musical, The Lure. Rotten tomatoes sums up the film as “ Agnieszka Smoczynska directed this off-beat horror comedy about two mermaid sisters who fall for the same man on dry land.” This is bullshit summary. Let’s dive below the surface; in this film a mermaid is lured on land by a handsome blue-eye blond boy playing love songs by the water. She (Silver) and her sister (Golden) move on land join a glittery Polish dancing club as part a band. Trouble finds them when Silver alone, falls in love with the blond boy even though he is repulsed by her fish half. To secure his love and with his help she surgically trades her tail for legs and loses her voice. Sirens are the classic example of the “monstrous-feminine”; female creatures that uses their sexuality to entice men to their deaths. However, The Lure is not a cautionary tale for men, but for women. How many women have destroyed themselves for the promise of male love? I won’t spoil the end of this, but as a retelling of the classic Hans' Christian Anderson “Little Mermaid” so you probably know where this is going. Trigger Warning: For grey area sexual consent and gore.