111 minutes, rated PG-13 for sensuality, language and brief violence
Syracuse is a widowed fisherman with a gravely ill daughter, Annie. He is also a recovered drinker whose world takes a fantastical turn when his daily catch includes a mermaid, Ondine. Ondine moves into his cottage and his bed. Is she a “selkie”– a mythical sea creature, as Annie insists, or something else? A dreamy blend of fantasy and fiction permeate this watery tale.
“A gorgeous contemporary fairy tale. When director Jordan resolves the mystery, he does so beautifully, satisfying both realists and those who long for a storybook ending.”
– Michael O’Sullivan, Washington Post
“Like John Sayles’ The Secret of Roan Inish, Neil Jordan’s intoxicatingly beautiful Ondine plays off the marvelous folklore of the selkie, a seal who sheds his or her skin temporarily and can live on land as a human. . . . Intoxicatingly beautiful. Colin Farrell gives a beautifully confident performance.” – Mary Pols, TIME Magazine
“There is much to recommend Ondine, Jordan’s love letter to Castletownbere, the fishing village on Ireland’s southern coast where he lives and where the film was shot; and the notion that no matter how bruised and battered by life, love is still possible, still the answer. . . . It’s a small film, and there’s a spare, dreamlike quality that’s a departure for a writer-director who tends toward densely detailed stories stuffed with moral complications, The Crying Game, Mona Lisa and Michael Collins among them.” – Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times