Erzulie

Erzulie has made a name for itself as a mermaid movie or black mermaid movie, but the story is much deeper. Beyond the "funny business" is the story of four long-time female friends, each of whom are facing their own dark waters. While each woman experiences their own unique trials and tribulations, their common belief in avenging the societal oppressions felt by women everywhere prove that hell hath no fury as a woman scorned.

The men in this film seem like caricatures, but we all know someone like them: self-centered, short-sighted, and dim-witted. At every turn of the suspenseful story you are hoping that karma bites these butts in the ass.

Watch this film with your tribe and an open mind.

This film has some throwback vibes. Feels old school nostalgic-friend reunion movie with some twist and turns. And who doesn't love a cool mermaid?! Think of Now and Then, but add a mermaid. Or Goonies. Could have flowed better in spots and had a clearer message by the end. Like a bit of too many themes at once, but I liked what it was trying to accomplish. Just could have been executed little better story wise. Has some good comedic moments. Interested to see if sequel or not. Overall, enjoyable though!! So if you're in the mood for a fantasy like thriller and love mermaids, give it a watch!!

I grew watching all sorts of creature-features on the sci-fi channel and show like Buffy The Vampire Slayer on the CW. Erzulie was right up my alley.

I loved the Louisiana setting, it was unique. I also liked the great actors and the feminist vibes. It's more thoughtful than a regular "creature feature", as the acting, characters and script is way better. You don't often see an ensemble cast of cool women who treat each other well in this space.

As far as Mermaids go, Erzulie herself was a bad-ass. You wanted to root for her and the women, and you could easily dislike the villains in the story.

As an independent film maker myself, it truly warms my heart to see the fruits of one's labors. And to see diversity like this is even more inspiring. Erzulie takes you on a different path in the mythical world of mermaids, with intricate and emotional interactions between the women of the movie. The pacing was well thought, and there wasn't a point where I felt that the movie lagged. From a technical standpoint, the cinematography was beautifully done, and i found myself completely engaged. From the opening scene, to the very satisfying ending, I enjoyed this, and would certainly watch it again.

Full disclosure, I provided DCP services to the film, so did see the film in a full theatrical screening. However, I'm not affiliated with the film production and my review is my honest take.

As I work on a lot of indie film, Erzulie stands out of from the crowd with a creative, cool take on the mermaid myth. It takes the basic monster in the wild story and gives it an authentic and female-centric approach that is both engaging to watch and nice meta commentary on how this myth has played out in other films.

The strengths of the film are the quality cast, both leads and supporting characters, the nice design of the mermaid and the quality direction that moves the story along, builds the characters and maintains tension.

The technical quality exceeds the budget range and it's devoid of the often found failings of low-budget films: cinematography, edit, sound, music and color are all well executed and don't distract from watching. While I would not call one of the best films ever made, it's better than almost films in this budget range and better than a lot of big budget flicks.

If you like female-centric films with a fresh twist on a classic film genre, it's a solid choice.