Peyton Knight

Esther Heesch

Phoebe Cates

THE LURE (2015)
dir. Agnieszka Smoczyńska

there’s “good weird” & “bad weird”: the former can be attributed to, for example, a directorial formalism/self-assuredness mixed with a fiercely uncanny imagination - think “blue velvet”, “the cook, the thief, his wife & her lover”, “tommy” & “mulholland drive”. the latter can be attributed to, for example, the common directorial awkwardness of a debut feature, which “the lure” actually is. where the term “fever dream” gets randomly thrown around a lot to describe “surreal cinema”, this tonal mashup of a “horror musical” does accurately fit that description - due to its erratic (intentional? unintentional?) delirium & confusion. i’m not just referring to its actual script & directing, i’m also referring to the tempo of some of its performances & the incongruent lyrics of its songs. all this non-stop strangeness makes “the lure” a very disorienting, semi-watchable reverie. the creepily celestial allure of the 2 cabaret mermaids (see above) is probably the film’s most obvious asset: these “aqua aliens” really do seem like they’re from another planet & they end up partially anchoring (pun intended) this dreamy yarn, which never seems to stop drifting on a bed of occasionally alluded-to “sea foam” … oh & i forgot to mention - “the lure” is part of the criterion collection, so I could, of course, be wrong. if you like your surrealism disjointed & sloppy, this film could be for you!