If there’s a sub-genre of movies which are concurrently filled with recycled clichés and someway underappreciated on the identical time, it needs to be mermaid motion pictures. A lot of them exist, and the very best of those movies present how entertaining, enjoyable and thrilling residing life beneath the ocean will be.
Beneath, you’ll discover the 22 finest mermaid motion pictures ever made ranked from finest to worst. Based mostly on the cinematic high quality, using its medium—live-action or animated, and the way in which it interprets mermaids or adjacent-style humanoid sea folks, these are those it’s essential to see and tips on how to watch them proper now.
1. The Little Mermaid (1989)
The place to Watch: Disney+
That is the animated Disney movie that popularized the mermaid style and it stays but to be crushed throughout the board. Ariel is the mermaid daughter of King Triton and he or she needs nothing greater than to see the human world and the prince she’s falling for.
Ariel is the strongest mermaid character ever created and he or she carries a film that’s crammed with intriguing characters, visuals that someway maintain up nicely many years later, and songs like “Underneath the Sea” and “A part of Your World” that you just gained’t have the ability to get out of your head. The Little Mermaid is the quintessential mermaid film.
2. Ponyo (2008)
The place to Watch: Max
Studio Ghibli is unmatched in 2D animation and that’s on full show with Ponyo, one of many extra underrated movies from the Japanese anime studio. This Japanese tackle the traditional story of a fish lady eager to stay with people is filled with superb sights, wonders, and two lead characters who’re unforgettable.
3. Splash (1984)
The place to Watch: Disney+
A couple of years earlier than Disney would make considered one of its best-animated movies, Tom Hanks starred in a beautiful live-action mermaid story that is still the very best of its variety. After being saved by a mermaid as a child, Hanks returns as an grownup on the lookout for the mermaid he loves and needs to see once more.
It balances every little thing so nicely, figuring out when to make the viewer chuckle, emotional, and oozing with battle and romance.
4. Luca (2021)
The place to Watch: Disney+
Pixar seldom misses with its animated motion pictures, and Luca is not any totally different. The connection between the 2 leads, Luca and Alberto, is a strong and heartwarming story of brotherly friendship whereas impressing with its visuals and infrequently emotional plot a couple of sea monster boy.
5. Tune of the Sea (2014)
The place to Watch: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV+
Boasting an animation model that’s in contrast to the rest, this household characteristic movie follows a boy who finds out that his sister is a mermaid-like selkie and goes on a journey to get her voice again. Beautiful from begin to end with a shifting plot, it is a extremely distinctive mermaid story that should be seen.
6. The Lure (2015)
The place to Watch: Max
This Polish mermaid film is among the most underrated entries within the style that shouldn’t be missed by older followers of mermaids. This darker thriller tells the story of two mermaids who fall for a similar man and the horrifying and darkish occasions that observe due to it.
7. Barbie: Mermaidia (2006)
The place to Watch: Apple TV+
As probably the greatest Barbie animated movies ever made, there’s a cause that Mermaidia spawned a complete host of its spin-off motion pictures and sequels. The story of the mermaid Elina and her journey to avoid wasting a prince from an evil fairy has probably the greatest seems on the world beneath the ocean in a film.
8. The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)
The place to Watch: Disney+
No doubt, this lesser sequel to the very best mermaid film ever made just isn’t practically in a position to stay as much as its predecessor. That is largely because of a cookie-cutter storyline that copies the unique far an excessive amount of. Even nonetheless, new characters like Ariel’s daughter Melody and the songs assist this to be an thrilling mermaid film.
9. A Mermaid in Paris (2020)
The place to Watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+
This French rom-com takes a generic premise of a person falling in love with a random girl he met and places a pleasant mermaid twist on it. There may be hazard, motion, romance, and loads of laughs on this surprisingly stable tackle mermaids that feels someway recent in its characters and script.
10. The Little Mermaid (2023)
The place to Watch: Disney+ (Date TBD)
The live-action remake of the traditional Disney animated movie is slightly near the unique materials however loses itself in a few of the instructions it takes. Whereas the particular results aren’t excellent and a few of the musical route for songs like “Kiss the Lady” isn’t the very best, Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy at the least nail their roles as Ariel and Ursula, respectively.
11. The Mermaid (2016)
The place to Watch: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV+
This Chinese language tackle the traditional mermaid storyline is a hilarious and infrequently shocking model of the traditional story. Slightly than the standard setup, that is an enemies-to-lovers scenario the place a mermaid lady finds herself falling for a person who threatens her folks’s very existence.
12. Aquaman (2018)
The place to Watch: Max
Whilst you could not consider the DC superhero Aquaman as a standard merman, he suits the invoice nicely as an underwater humanoid individual with the powers to manage the ocean. Jason Momoa is the very best match for this position and he stuns on this in any other case lovely however stereotypical superhero movie.
13. Blue My Thoughts (2017)
The place to Watch: Vudu, Prime Video, Apple TV+
This twisted tackle a mermaid coming-of-age story is in contrast to some other on this listing. Far deeper and extra critical than different motion pictures, it tells the story of a German lady who discovers that her physique is altering unexpectedly, despite the fact that she doesn’t need it to.
14. Miranda (1948)
The place to Watch: This film just isn’t out there to stream legally within the US.
This is among the most mystical and intriguing seems at a mermaid, and it is among the first, too. This black-and-white movie tells the story of a health care provider who runs right into a mermaid and asks him to indicate her London. It results in magical and interesting moments as her powers pull within the males round her.
15. Aquamarine (2006)
The place to Watch: Disney+
The story of two youngsters who bump into a mermaid, performed by Sara Paxton, is an intriguing one. The perfect half is the way it navigates the friendship between the 2 ladies and their new mermaid buddy, resulting in all the troubles that they undergo. It’s predictable, however the main trio of women, together with JoJo and Emma Roberts, helps it’s higher total.
16. Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948)
The place to Watch: This film just isn’t out there to stream legally within the US.
As one of many earliest makes an attempt to inform the story of a mermaid in cinema, it is a movie that largely set the muse for every little thing to come back after. This fantasy movie follows a person and his spouse who catch themselves a mermaid whereas fishing.
17. The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Starting (2008)
The place to Watch: Disney+
The third movie within the Disney line of Ariel mermaid motion pictures is, oddly sufficient, a prequel and the weakest of the bunch. Going down earlier than the groundbreaking first film, it largely suffers from a plot that has virtually no weight to it. Although seeing Ariel’s mom’s demise is a pleasant contact, every little thing else is basically uninteresting.
18. The Thirteenth Yr (1999)
The place to Watch: Disney+
You not often get to see a mermaid story that’s a couple of merman, however that’s precisely what you get right here. This can be a largely commonplace Nineteen Nineties Disney Channel authentic film with the coming-of-age twist a couple of boy discovering his place in a world the place he’s totally different.
19. Mermaid Down (2019)
The place to Watch: Peacock
This horror film is about as trope-breaking because it will get for a mermaid story. As a substitute of the standard cute storyline a couple of cute mermaid, it is a extra sensible and disturbing take a look at a mermaid who’s kidnapped, stripped of her story, after which despatched to a psychological residence to be additional tormented.
20. The Little Mermaid (1976)
The place to Watch: YouTube
This Czech model of the traditional fairy story from Hans Christian Andersen is way extra trustworthy than the animated variations that might observe from Disney. This results in a trippy, darkish, messy, and disturbing movie with out the comfortable endings you could be used to.
21. Killer Mermaid (2014)
The place to Watch: Peacock
One other of the extra horror-style mermaid live-action motion pictures, this one options a few ladies who bump into an evil mermaid’s lair and need to survive for his or her lives. Not as ingenious or spooky as a few of the different horror mermaid movies, it’s a bit forgettable.
22. Lu Over the Wall (2017)
The place to Watch: Prime Video, Apple TV+
This mermaid story is a couple of lonely boy named Kai and the mermaid lady named Lu that he met is about as stereotypical because it will get. To be clear, if in case you have already exhausted all different animated mermaid motion pictures, it may be enjoyable, however the animation is, sadly, too free and disjointed to look good.
