Mia has just transferred to a new high school where she’s desperate to fall in with the popular mean girls. Gianna and company are serious mean girls though; their first group activity is breath play, where the teenage (tweenage?) girls grab each other by the throat until they pass out. You know, kid stuff. Unconscious, Mia has a dream or a hallucination that she’s underwater, the bubbles overtaking her.
At home, Mia (Luna Wedler) and her parents are struggling to get along. She thinks they might be keeping her adoption a secret from her. They’re not sure whether her recent moodiness is regular teenage stuff or not. I’m not exactly sure how old Mia is. She looks easily 15 to me, but she gets her first period and has her first sexual experience back to back, and not necessarily in that order. I do know that whatever’s going on with her emotionally, her physical transformation is NOT normal teenage stuff. She’s suddenly compelled to eat the family’s pet goldfish. She grows webbing between her toes. In her mind, these are linked to the onset of her period but her doctor disagrees. Moodier than ever, Mia is also learning to be more secretive.
Some of you will remember how hard it is to be a teenage girl. Well, it’s a whole lot harder when you’re a teenage girl in the process of becoming a fish. And though her transformation seems random to her, to us it feels linked to her increasing desire to fit in with a crowd travelling way faster than her normal speed. The more she conforms, the more her body changes – and all she wants to do is fit in! It’s a cool idea that feels a little familiar, because all the rest of the bratty teenage tropes are right there.
The movie gets uncomfortably into body horror territory when Mia tries to alter or “fix” the changes in her body. This is a bold movie and probably not for everyone. Wedler and Zoe Pastelle Holthuizen manage some pretty compelling performances, and director Lisa Bruhlmann creates some stunning visuals. The metaphor’s a little too on the nose, but if you’re intrigued by the fishiness or you’ve always had a thing for mermaids, this might be worth a watch for you.
I always like films that try something different, and as you say aren’t for everyone. I haven’t heard of this one up until reading this review, but I definitely like the sound of this. Great review! 😊
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Odd title Assholes watching tv
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Not when you get to know ’em. 😀
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What do you mean =
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Get to no who ?
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Get to No why =
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Wow. Tubularsock has a feeling that Mia is traveling in the wrong “school” which for fish THEY KNOW the difference!
But a fish in the wrong “school” is really out of water!
Where Mia appears to be “out to lunch” as well.
No question, teen years are rough and the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’s 60’s 70’s are NOT a bed of roses either!
“Some of you will remember how hard it is to be a teenage girl.” Fortunately, not Tubularsock!
Great review, however. But it reminds Tubularsock not to swim in the aquarium.
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Incredible fish punning!
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Got me thinking which other films have puns as titles. Weak at Denise comes to mind.
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This sounds interesting.
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No No No
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“Some of you will remember how hard it is to be a teenage girl. Well, it’s a whole lot harder when you’re a teenage girl in the process of becoming a fish.”
LOL
Sounds intriguing/gross/different/a possibility
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This one sounds interesting.
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The premise is a bit different. I don’t think this one is for me even though I’m usually a sucker for teen movies.
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Sounds intriguing. Will add it to the list.
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So, is this like a modern take on Little Mermaid? Sounds intriguing… though I may not rush to watch it.
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Heh, maybe.
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