The Little Mermaid (2018 film)

The 2018 American live-action fantasy-adventure film *The Little Mermaid* draws inspiration from Hans Christian Andersen’s 1837 story of the same name. Blake Harris wrote and directed the project, with Chris Bouchard serving as co-director; Armando Gutierrez and Robert Molloy produced it. AMC Theatres released the film on August 17, 2018, and it later arrived on Netflix on December 1, 2018. Critics panned the movie, and it performed poorly at the box office, earning only $4.5 million against a $5 million budget.

In the plot, Eloise tells her granddaughters a version of the tale where a wizard steals a mermaid princess’s soul, forcing her into eternal enslavement away from the ocean. When the girls doubt the story, Eloise recounts a girl she once knew who met a mermaid. That girl is Elle, a child with an incurable undiagnosed condition. Her uncle, reporter Cam Harrison, investigates a circus performer named Locke, who claims to sell mermaid healing water. Cam hopes the water can cure Elle. At a Mississippi circus, they find a mermaid trapped in a tank. After discovering Locke’s water is a fraud, Cam assumes the mermaid is also fake. Later, in the woods, the mermaid—who calls herself Elizabeth—reveals she gains legs at low tide. Locke holds a vial containing her soul, which binds her to him. When Elle is kidnapped, a fortune teller named Thora and a circus fighter named Ulysses help Cam rescue her and free Elizabeth. During the escape, Thora and Ulysses admit Locke tricked them into joining the circus too. They defeat Locke and his henchman Sid at the ocean. Elizabeth regains her soul, heals Elle, and explains that Elle is part mermaid and only needs a swim when sick. After a farewell kiss, Elizabeth swims away. Cam writes the story, knowing few will believe it. Eloise finishes her tale, starts coughing, announces it is time for a swim, and transforms into a mermaid—revealing she is the grown-up Elle.

The cast includes William Moseley as Cam, Poppy Drayton as Elizabeth, Loreto Peralta as Elle, Armando Gutierrez as Locke, Shirley MacLaine as Eloise, Gina Gershon as Peggy Gene, Shanna Collins as Thora, Chris Yong as Ulysses, Jo Marie Payton as Lorene, Tom Nowicki as Sid, Lexy Kolker as Lily, Claire Crosby as Rose, Jared Sandler as Billy Bob, Hunter Gomez as Johnny Boy, and Antoni Corone as Mr. Coleman.

Originally titled *A Little Mermaid*, the film was shot i