Mermaid Beach review – Wales gets its mermaidcore moment in teen-empowerment tale

When discontented Lily becomes a fantastical sea creature her low-budget transformation is strikingly unconvincing, rather in tune with the whole film

Mermaidcore comes to the Welsh coastline in this somewhat stilted family movie about a teenager called Lily who turns into a mermaid. You could imagine it being developed into a series for kids’ TV but as a film it unfortunately falls at the first hurdle – failing to pull off a convincing mermaid transformation. Poor Lily’s shimmering tail is very obviously made from nylon that becomes very clingy when wet, making her legs very visible under the scales.

Ellie Bindman plays Lily, who has moved from London to the Welsh seaside with her family for her stepdad’s work. Resentful about leaving her friends, she is huffy, communicating with her mum Claire (Marie Wilson) primarily in eyerolls. Lily’s only friend in town is Shane (Jack Taruschio Thomas), an awkward, slightly odd trainee local reporter who is following a lead about a mermaid sighting. One day Lily finds a glistening shell on the beach that transforms her into a mermaid and off she swims, tail arcing in the water.

Of course, there is a simple eco-message about ocean pollution, which is connected to the textiles factory where Lily’s stepdad, Jason (Andrew Rolfe), works. The factory owner and the town’s mayor, both bland and suited, are the film’s bad guys. And for a kids’ film, there are a few too many scenes featuring adults doing boring adult things in boring offices. (A handful are so wooden you could carve them out and set sail in them.) If Mermaid Beach were picked up for the small screen, the commissioners would presumably require serious work to the writing and characterisation – and a better tail.

• Mermaid Beach is in UK cinemas from 14 August.