High school is hell, especially if you’re from a family of mythical sea beasts attempting to blend in on land. That’s the coming-of-age context for this latest fantastical fable from DreamWorks Animation, the studio behind Shrek. Ruby (Lana Condor) is an ordinary modern teenager – save for the gills she hides under her polo neck – so all she wants is to go to prom with her friends. Even if prom is “a post-colonial, patriarchal construct”. But this year’s dance will be held on a boat, and Ruby’s mother (Toni Collette) has issued strict instructions to stay out of the sea. An act of rebellion is inevitable, resulting in some alarming physical changes, a family fallout and a Kaiju-eque clash of the underwater titans. All the normal teenage stuff.
Pixar’s Turning Red certainly had a neater metaphor for puberty’s metamorphoses, but in lieu of originality this movie boasts some attractively tactile animation – the Gillmans’ slimy seaweed breakfast looks good enough to eat – and an excellent voice cast. This includes I Think You Should Leave’s Sam Richardson putting his jolly, gelatinous vocal qualities to good use, and Schitt’s Creek star Annie Murphy as a mean-girl mermaid, complete with Ariel 1.0-style tresses.
