Austin Film Festival Short Feature Review: ‘Mermaid, Bitch’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Alexi Pappas as Lily in Victoria Negri’s MERMAID, BITCH. (Photo Courtesy of the Austin Film Festival.)

Something that is genuinely fascinating about popular culture, is how friendships are portrayed in television and film. For they are often showcased in one of two ways. They are either healthy and mature or outright messy and it makes sense as to why these polarizing traits are put on display. For one is designed to remind us of the importance of healthy friendships and what they can do for us in our time of need. While the other usually exists to provide us with a hard lesson about how not all friendships last and we need boundaries and maturity to be injected into them… or we need to jettison that relationship from our lives.
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But what truly makes this so fascinating, is how wrong both of those portrayals are. Because friendships are in fact… both things at the same. For real friends, will be that mature guiding light when we need to hear some hard truths and some hard facts about our journey. But real friends will also confide in us some messed up thoughts and get messy in the dirt with us when the going gets tough. Because real friendship is messy, and real friendship withstands all challenges and that needs to be showcased more in television and film, and thankfully, director Victoria Negri, felt the need to do just that by way of a short feature she crafted, which recently screened at the Austin Film Festival, in Mermaid, Bitch.

Which is a story that introduces us to Lily, who is going through quite the unique period in her life when we meet her, here. Mainly because she’s awakened from a night on the town, transformed. Not in the metaphysical sense mind you, but courtesy of the fact that the lower half of her body has been replaced with a mermaid’s tail. Which of course, puts her into a panic, one that prompts her to call her closest friend Ruby to her apartment, to help her deal with the fact that she is now a mythical creature. A reality that will bring forth a long day for these besties, one that will challenge their flawed friendship like never before but also help them to understand… the wonder of their bond and how little will ever be able to break it.

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Which gives rise, to an amazing feature. One that let’s be honest, is about as original and unique as it gets. Because there are just no stories out there that this writer can think of, where someone just wakes up one day transformed in this manner. Which in turn, allows for some real comedy to take place in this feature. Since it also makes the point of showcasing how wild such a transformation would be and the struggles it would bring about in everyday life. Since we don’t give much thought to how we would navigate stairs or simple travel without the use of our legs. But of course, there is more to this story than the fantastical, for as mentioned… it does dive deep into some amazing concepts regarding friendship.
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In fact, this film showcases a supremely realistic friendship. Wherein that brutal honesty is present, since Ruby has a lot to say about the situation, but also shows us that messy side of friendships we don’t like to talk about. Wherein we sometimes fight with our closest friends and where we struggle to find common ground when the situation is polarizing, and where things can get ugly and stressful between us and our BFFL. But we never worry about them not being at our side, because messy is where the best friendships thrive, and it helps us to find a way forward with them, and well, this story deserves a round of applause for showing us a realistic friendship, in all its sometimes-co-dependent glory and for making it clear that they have to harbor good and bad to be productive.

All of which brings together, a wonderfully refreshing story. One that really is special and creative and features some lovely performances from co-writer Alexi Pappas (Lily) and Ruby McCollister (Ruby), that sell the wild nature of this story, and the magnificent wonder of friendships. Because truly, it’s majesty is on display here, and all of this works, courtesy of co-writer/director Victoria Negri. Who found a way to make all of this believable, since the mermaid half of Lily can stand in for just about any struggle friends encounter and well, that makes this a delightful film. One that is really is filled with depth and lighthearted moments that work, and finally puts what friendships really look like on display in a medium that rarely gives them their due.

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