''Mermaids'' is a 1990 American

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Richard Benjamin Richard Samuel Benjamin (born May 22, 1938) is an American actor and film director. He has starred in a number of well-known films, including '' Goodbye, Columbus'' (1969), '' Catch-22'' (1970), '' Portnoy's Complaint'' (1972), '' Westworld'', ...

, and starring

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough pl ...

Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born ), known professionally as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Having come to attention playing quirky characters in the late 1980s, she achieved success with her more dramatic performances in the 1990s. Ryder's L ...

, Michael Schoeffling, and

Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge. Ricci works mostly in Independent film, independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box-office hits. She is ...

in her film debut. Based on

Patty Dann Patty Dann (born October 30, 1953) is an American novelist and nonfiction writer. She studied at the University of Oregon, and later earned an MFA in writing from Columbia University. While working at the A&E (TV network), A&E network in 1986, sh ...

's 1986 novel of the same name, and set in 1963, its plot follows a neurotic teenage girl who moves with her wayward mother and younger sister to a small town in

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

. Originally planned as the English-language debut of Swedish director

Lasse Hallström Lars Sven "Lasse" Hallström (; born 2 June 1946) is a Swedish film director. He first became known for directing almost all the music videos by the pop music, pop group ABBA, but came to international attention with his 1985 feature film ''My L ...

, the film was ultimately directed by Benjamin after both Hallström and

Frank Oz Frank Richard Oznowicz (born May 25, 1944), known professionally as Frank Oz, is an American puppeteer, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for his involvement with Jim Henson and George Lucas through ''The Muppets'', ''Sesame Street'', and '' ...

abandoned the project. Filming took place in various locations in Massachusetts in fall 1989. Released in December 1990, the film was met with mostly positive reviews, with acclaim towards the performance of Ryder, who received a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

nomination and a National Board of Review Award. Ricci also won a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for her performance.

Plot

In 1963

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

, Charlotte Flax is a 15-year-old whose carefree 31-year-old single mother, Rachel, relocates her and her 9-year-old sister, Kate, each time she ends a relationship. Rachel's parenting approach - which more resembles friendship than mothering - troubles the anxiety-ridden Charlotte, who is embarrassed by her flamboyant nature. After ending an affair with her married employer, Rachel, Charlotte, and Kate move to the small town of Eastport,

where she also gets a job as a receptionist for a

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

. Charlotte is ecstatic about their new home's location, as it borders a

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

, as she is obsessed with

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, to the annoyance of

irreligious Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, rationa ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

Rachel. Charlotte soon becomes enamored with Joe Peretti, a 26-year-old caretaker of the convent and local school bus driver. Meanwhile, Rachel meets a local shoe store owner named Lou Landsky, and slowly begins a relationship with him. After the

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

of John F. Kennedy, Charlotte finds Joe ringing the convent bell and consoles him. However, as they begin to kiss, she feels filled with sin and flees. After the encounter, she begins

fasting Fasting is the act of refraining from eating, and sometimes drinking. However, from a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (before "breakfast"), or to the metabolic sta ...

to purge her sinful thoughts, eventually passing out from hunger. Uneducated about sex, Charlotte fears that God will punish her with pregnancy via

Immaculate Conception The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Mariology, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not def ...

, and decides to steal Rachel's car and run away. She drives all night before stopping at the home of a young family in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

, claiming to have suffered car trouble. The family invites her to have breakfast with them, but Lou arrives to retrieve her during the meal, having tracked her after reporting the car stolen. Rachel chastises her when she returns home, but she doesn't reveal why she ran away. The next day, she makes an appointment with a local obstetrician under the name Joan Arc. The doctor tells her it isn't possible for her to be pregnant as she is a virgin. At a

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

costume party, Lou asks Rachel to marry and move in with him, but she declines, reminding him he is still legally married to his wife (who had left him). After the party, she discovers her car will not start and Joe gives her a ride home. Upon arriving home, she gives him a kiss, wishing him a happy New Year. Charlotte observes the kiss and storms outside, accusing Rachel of trying to thwart her budding relationship and asking Joe why he would kiss Rachel before he drives off. On New Year's Day, with Rachel out for the day with Lou, Charlotte stays home with Kate and dresses up in Rachel's clothes and makeup. She drinks some wine and offers some to Kate, who drinks a large amount without her knowing. She takes Kate to see the convent, and she—not knowing Kate is drunk—goes to check out the top of the bell tower by herself, leaving Kate behind to collect rocks near the river. She unexpectedly finds Joe in the bell tower, and they embrace and start to have sex. An unattended Kate falls in the river and nearly drowns, but is rescued by the nuns. While Kate recovers, a crazed and angry Rachel gets into an argument with Charlotte about being irresponsible and threatens to move them to another town. The argument ends after Rachel slaps Charlotte across the face, and they subsequently have a calm, heartfelt conversation.("You know...You're just one year younger than I was when I gave birth to you.") Discussing her father, Charlotte realizes he is never coming back. Rachel ultimately agrees to her plea to stay in Eastport at least one more year. Over the following year, Rachel and Lou continue their relationship, while Joe relocates to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

to open a

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation, propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which se ...

; he and Charlotte keep in contact via postcards. At school, she has gained a new reputation due to her sexual encounter with Joe, and replaces her Catholicism obsession with

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. Kate has recovered and has returned to competitive swimming, although the accident has left her hearing "sounding fuzzy" sometimes. The film ends with Rachel, Charlotte, and Kate playfully dancing as they set the table for a family meal, something they had not done in the past.

Cast

as Rachel Flax / Mrs. Flax *

as Louis "Lou" Landsky *

as Charlotte Flax * Michael Schoeffling as Joseph "Joe" Peretti *

as Kate Flax *

Caroline McWilliams Caroline Margaret McWilliams (April 4, 1945 – February 11, 2010) was an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Marcy Hill in the television series '' Benson''. McWilliams had also appeared in nine episodes of its parent-series ''S ...

as Carrie * Jan Miner as Mother Superior * Betsy Townsend as Mary O'Brien * Richard McElvain as Mr. Crain * Paula Plum as Mrs. Crain

Production

Development

Producers initially engaged Swedish director

to direct the film as his English-language feature debut, but he left the project to direct '' Once Around'' (1991). They subsequently hired

as a replacement, but he also abandoned the project after clashing with Cher and Winona Ryder. Ultimately, they hired

to direct the film. Producer Patrick Palmer commented that both Hallström and Oz had envisioned a darker tone for the film, and that at one point, Hallström's version of the film included Charlotte committing

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

Casting

Emily Lloyd was originally cast in the part of Charlotte Flax. She had begun shooting the film when Cher complained that she did not look enough like Charlotte to play her. Winona Ryder, who impressed both Cher and then-director Oz in '' Heathers'' (1988), was subsequently cast in the part. Lloyd sued

Orion Pictures Orion Releasing, LLC (Trade name, doing business as Orion Pictures) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by the Amazon MGM Studios subsidiary of Amazon (company), Amazon. It was founded in 1978 as Ori ...

Corporation and Mermaid Productions for breach of contract and received US$175,000 in damages, reaching a settlement on the second day of the trial, 30 July 1991.

Filming

Principal photography of the film began September 25, 1989 in Massachusetts, and completed on December 15 of that year. The Flax house exterior was built for the film in Coolidge Point near Manchester-by-the-Sea and downtown Rockport served as the fictional village of Eastport. In a rural area near North Easton, the production crew built a bell tower for the convent set as well as a cottage. Some interior photography was completed on a soundstage constructed in a warehouse in Malden. The competitive swimming scene that opens the film was filmed at the War Memorial Pool in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

. The majority of the film was shot in Massachusetts, and some additional photography occurred in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

and

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

Release

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

the film has a rating of 72% based on reviews from 25 critics. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 56% based on reviews from 20 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film a grade "B" on scale of A to F. Though the film's coming-of-age story was seen as a somewhat familiar one, many critics argued the film was elevated by its performances—particularly Ryder's—and a script imbued with "a quality of everyday surrealism".

Hal Hinson Hal Hinson is an American film critic who wrote for ''The Washington Post'' from 1987 to 1997. As of July 2015 he has 887 reviews collected on the website Rotten Tomatoes. Hinson has been cited as a critic who is unpopular with his fellow criti ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' wrote, "The film's comedy springs out of the incongruous pairing of a rebellious, crazy mom and a devoutly conservative daughter—that and the nuttiness of having a Jewish girl obsessed with Catholicism." Of Ryder, Hinson wrote, "What's great about ''Mermaids'' is how easily it keys us into Charlotte's hilariously warped teenage thought-waves…Having made something of a specialty of woe-is-me, adolescent angst, Ryder finds a deeper level here, a level of comedy with something genuinely painful mixed in."

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who was the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in 2000. ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote. "''Mermaids'', adapted by the English writer June Roberts from the novel by Patty Dann, is a terribly gentle if wisecracking comedy about the serious business of growing up."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' gave it three out of four stars and wrote: "''Mermaids'' is not exactly good, but it is not boring. Winona Ryder, in another of her alienated outsider roles, generates real charisma. And what the movie is saying about Cher is as elusive as it is intriguing." In a negative review, ''

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...

'' wrote: "The film is burdened by curious details and observations, and its preoccupation with all things aquatic (little sister is an ace swimmer, Mom dresses up as a mermaid for New Year's Eve, etc.) is overworked. Characterization suffers, with Charlotte and Rachel too self-absorbed to engage our sympathies. Crucially, they just aren't funny".

Accolades

Soundtrack

References

External links

*
''Mermaids'' at MGM site
*
Interview with the Cast of Mermaids (1990)

Texas Archive of the Moving Image The Texas Archive of the Moving Image (TAMI) is an independent 501(c)(3) organization founded in 2002 by film archivist and University of Texas at Austin professor Caroline Frick, PhD. TAMI's mission is to preserve, study, and exhibit Texas film ...

{{Richard Benjamin 1990 films 1990 comedy-drama films 1990s coming-of-age comedy-drama films 1990s teen comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films American teen comedy-drama films 1990s English-language films Films about Catholicism Films about dysfunctional families Films based on American novels Films directed by Richard Benjamin Films scored by Jack Nitzsche Films set in 1963 Films set in 1964 Films set in Massachusetts Films shot in Massachusetts Films set in Oklahoma Films shot in Boston Films shot in Rhode Island Films shot in Texas Films about juvenile sexuality Films about mother–daughter relationships Orion Pictures films Films about sisters 1990s American films English-language comedy-drama films