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* WrongfullyCommitted: All of the patients are women who [[AmbiguousDisorder seem eccentric (or neurodivergent) at most]], or supernaturally touched, not mentally ill. [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place at once]].
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* WrongfullyCommitted: All of the patients are women who [[AmbiguousDisorder seem eccentric (or neurodivergent) at most]], most, or supernaturally touched, not mentally ill. [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place at once]].
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* SoundtrackDissonance: There are a lot of scenes where the music is surprisingly upbeat and hopeful for a slasher movie score.
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* AndroclesLion: [[spoiler: Sandra and some of the asylum patients storm Dr. Beyer's catamaran to rescue her. She acts as TheCavalry, finishing him off and saving them from the sinking]].
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* AmbiguouslyBrown: Whatever ethnicity the Mermaid is, she certainly isn't Caucasian. Alexandra Bokova, the actress who plays the Mermaid, is a Russian-born mixed-race woman.
* AndroclesLion: [[spoiler: Sandra and some of the asylum patients storm Dr. Beyer's catamaran to rescue her. She then acts as TheCavalry, finishing him off and saving them from the sinking]].
* AndroclesLion: [[spoiler: Sandra and some of the asylum patients storm Dr. Beyer's catamaran to rescue her. She then acts as TheCavalry, finishing him off and saving them from the sinking]].
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* TheCavalry: [[spoiler: Sandra and several mental health patients storm Dr. Beyer's boat to rescue the Mermaid in the climax. In return, the Mermaid helps them escape the boat when it sinks]].
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* CoversAlwaysLie: The movie poster shown as the page image depicts a generic Mermaid with pale skin, black hair, and green scales facing away from the viewer, swimming in the ocean, posed as if she's hailing a fishing boat and a lighthouse. The Mermaid in the movie has [[AmbiguouslyBrown olive-tan skin and brown hair]] (courtesy of Alexandra Bokova) and blue scales, her only interaction with a fishing boat is trying to ''escape from'' it, most of the movie takes place in ''a mental health clinic'' instead of the ocean, and no lighthouses appear in the movie.
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* AndroclesLion: [[spoiler: Sandra and some of the asylum patients storm Dr. Beyer's catamaran to rescue her. She acts as TheCavalry, finishing him off and saving them from the sinking]].
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* InterspeciesRomance: Mermaids learned sign language from pirates who fell in love with them, which explains how the Mermaid in this movie knows sign language. [[spoiler: Sandra, [[TokenGoodTeammate the surviving nurse at Beyer's institution]], is confirmed by the Mermaid to be a descendant of one such couple]].
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* InterspeciesRomance: Mermaids learned sign language from pirates who fell in love with them, which explains how the Mermaid in this movie knows sign language. [[spoiler: Sandra, [[TokenGoodTeammate When one of the surviving nurse at Beyer's institution]], is confirmed by the Mermaid to be a descendant asylum patients asks if any of them are descendants of one such couple]].couple, the mermaid simply points at one of them]].
* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer, twice. The first time after he swallows a handful of fishhooks, interrupting the CasualDangerDialogue of the patients trying to get off the sinking boat. The second time he emerges from the ocean in the very last shot of the film, only to be dragged underwater and killed off for good]].
** Averted for when [[spoiler: Sandra and some surviving asylum patients are stuck on a sinking ship]], as they instead have CasualDangerDialogue. Then played straight when [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer is NotQuiteDead]].
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* ShoutOut: the BigBad [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] has a biography of serial killer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes H.H. Holmes]] that he uses as a lever to his BookcasePassage.
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* ShoutOut: the ShoutOut:
** The BigBad [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] has a biography of serial killer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes H.H. Holmes]] that he uses as a lever to hisBookcasePassage.BookcasePassage.
** The very last scene of the movie has [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] get dragged under the water's surface to his final death, in a manner visually evocative of the opening scene of ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
** The BigBad [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] has a biography of serial killer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes H.H. Holmes]] that he uses as a lever to his
** The very last scene of the movie has [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] get dragged under the water's surface to his final death, in a manner visually evocative of the opening scene of ''Film/{{Jaws}}''.
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* TokenGoodTeammate: Sandra is the one Nurse at Beyer's clinic who is unambiguously heroic, to the point of acting as a TeamMom for the patients. [[spoiler: she's the only staff member who survives to the end credits]].
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* TokenGoodTeammate: Sandra is the one Nurse at Beyer's clinic who is unambiguously heroic, to the point of acting as a TeamMom for the patients. [[spoiler: she's the one of only two staff member members who survives survive to the end credits]].
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* WhamShot: The body found [[spoiler: in the hull of Dr. Beyer's boat]] is the one that belongs to the Ghost that's been haunting the asylum.
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* ElectrifiedBathtub: [[spoiler: A patient trying to escape the Beyer Facility is killed when a pool of blood comes into contact with a live electrical current]].
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* ElectrifiedBathtub: [[spoiler: A patient trying to escape the Beyer Facility is killed when a pool of blood comes into contact with a live electrical taser current]].
* HopeSpot: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer aims his tommy gun at Alex, only to run out of bullets, and for a moment it looks like Alex will survive, and "Ave Maria" begins playing. So Dr. Beyer shoots a taser into a part of the wall that blood is flowing down towards, and lets the electrical current do the rest]].
* OhCrap:
** The mermaid has a protracted Oh Crap when her tail is cut off and she regrows legs.
** Linda finding [[spoiler: [[BewareOfViciousDog a man-eating attack dog]] in a cellar under the basement, and the bones of his victims]].
** Dr. Beyer's reaction to [[spoiler: seeing the Mermaid having regrown her tail]]
** Sandra's reaction to [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer's [[CarFu response]] to seeing the mermaid having regrown her tail]].
** The patients' [[MassOhCrap reactions]] to [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer showing [[SerialKiller his true colors]] to them]].
** The mermaid has a protracted Oh Crap when her tail is cut off and she regrows legs.
** Linda finding [[spoiler: [[BewareOfViciousDog a man-eating attack dog]] in a cellar under the basement, and the bones of his victims]].
** Dr. Beyer's reaction to [[spoiler: seeing the Mermaid having regrown her tail]]
** Sandra's reaction to [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer's [[CarFu response]] to seeing the mermaid having regrown her tail]].
** The patients' [[MassOhCrap reactions]] to [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer showing [[SerialKiller his true colors]] to them]].
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* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret." [[spoiler: one wrong turn in this area leads to [[BewareOfViciousDog Dr. Beyer's man-eating attack dog]].
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* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret." [[spoiler: one wrong turn in this area leads to [[BewareOfViciousDog Dr. Beyer's man-eating attack dog]].dog]] in a hatch in the floor]].
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* CensorBlur: When the mermaid takes off her clothes when she takes her first steps, the camera sometimes statics out when she's facing the camera. Averted otherwise, as the mermaid also has several full-frontal shots.
* {{Pixellation}}: When the mermaid takes off her clothes when she takes her first steps, the camera sometimes statics out when she's facing the camera. Averted otherwise, as the mermaid also has several full-frontal shots.
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* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret."
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* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret."" [[spoiler: one wrong turn in this area leads to [[BewareOfViciousDog Dr. Beyer's man-eating attack dog]].
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* CensorBlur: When the mermaid takes off her clothes when she takes her first steps, the camera sometimes statics out when she's facing the camera. Averted otherwise, as the mermaid also has several full-frontal shots.
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* StringyHairedGhostGirl: The mermaid often unintentionally resembles this, due to her tendency to crawl on all fours and have unkempt, messy hair. Averted for the ''actual'' ghost in this movie, who is benevolent and not unkempt.
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* UnkemptBeauty: the Mermaid is never fully groomed, and always has messy hair (that, when she's in the sea, is full of seaweed).
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* {{Gaslighting}}: It is heavily implied that the "patients" in the institution are being gaslit into thinking they are mentally ill.
* FedToTheBeast: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer keeps a dog in his basement to be the "Beast"]].
--> [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]]: [[spoiler: [[BondOneLiner Who's gonna get a new squeaky toy tomorrow]]?]]
* FedToTheBeast: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer keeps a dog in his basement to be the "Beast"]].
--> [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]]: [[spoiler: [[BondOneLiner Who's gonna get a new squeaky toy tomorrow]]?]]
* InterspeciesRomance: Mermaids learned sign language from pirates who fell in love with them, which explains how the Mermaid in this movie knows sign language. [[spoiler: Sandra, [[TokenGoodTeammate the surviving nurse at Beyer's institution]], is confirmed by the Mermaid to be a descendant of one such couple]].
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* JustFollowingOrders: The orderlies aren't actively malicious, but they also never question Dr. Beyer's orders, no matter how reprehensible. As one of them says, "I'm not the one with a [=PhD=]." [[spoiler:They do turn on him once they realize he's a murderer.]]
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* JustFollowingOrders: The orderlies aren't actively malicious, but they also never question Dr. Beyer's orders, no matter how reprehensible. As one of them says, "I'm not the one with a [=PhD=]." [[spoiler:They [[spoiler: They do turn on him once they realize he's a murderer.]]
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* SkewedPriorities: Bordering on TooDumbToLive--Alex's ill-timed PottyEmergency sees her break from escaping the institute with the other patients to run back inside it in search of a bathroom. Sure enough, [[spoiler:she runs right into Dr. Beyer and is killed]].
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* SkewedPriorities: Bordering on TooDumbToLive--Alex's ill-timed PottyEmergency sees her break from escaping the institute with the other patients to run back inside it in search of a bathroom. Sure enough, [[spoiler:she [[spoiler: she runs right into Dr. Beyer and is killed]].
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* WrongfullyCommitted: [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place at once]].
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* TokenGoodTeammate: Sandra is the one Nurse at Beyer's clinic who is unambiguously heroic, to the point of acting as a TeamMom for the patients. [[spoiler: she's the only staff member who survives to the end credits]].
* WrongfullyCommitted: All of the patients are women who [[AmbiguousDisorder seem eccentric (or neurodivergent) at most]], or supernaturally touched, not mentally ill. [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place atonce]].once]].
--> Patient: "Join the sorority, sister. None of us belong here."
* WrongfullyCommitted: All of the patients are women who [[AmbiguousDisorder seem eccentric (or neurodivergent) at most]], or supernaturally touched, not mentally ill. [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place at
--> Patient: "Join the sorority, sister. None of us belong here."
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* CuteMute: The mermaid never has any lines in the movie, and is played by Alexandra Bokova, who is relatively attractive [[UnkemptBeauty her hair is full of seaweed]].
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* CuteMute: The mermaid never has any lines in the movie, and is played by Alexandra Bokova, who is relatively attractive [[UnkemptBeauty despite her hair is being full of seaweed]].
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. Beyer is introduced as observing a fishing boat capturing a mermaid, then sneaking aboard, acting diplomatic when the fishermen have him at gunpoint (stating an intent to buy the Mermaid off of them for up to a million dollars), and then [[spoiler: murdering them when their backs are turned]], introducing him as both a powerful and charismatic man and [[a FauxAffablyEvil MadDoctor with an interest in killing people]].
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* ElectrifiedBathtub: [[spoiler: A patient trying to escape the Beyer Facility is killed when a pool of blood comes into contact with a live electrical current]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. Beyer is introduced as observing a fishing boat capturing a mermaid, then sneaking aboard, acting diplomatic when the fishermen have him at gunpoint (stating an intent to buy the Mermaid off of them for up to a million dollars), and then [[spoiler: murdering them when their backs are turned]], introducing him as both a powerful and charismatic man and[[a [[spoiler: a FauxAffablyEvil MadDoctor with an interest in killing people]].people]].
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Played for BodyHorror- cut off a mermaid's tail and keep it on land, and it will grow legs instead [[spoiler: until put back in non-chlorinated water again]].
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. Beyer is introduced as observing a fishing boat capturing a mermaid, then sneaking aboard, acting diplomatic when the fishermen have him at gunpoint (stating an intent to buy the Mermaid off of them for up to a million dollars), and then [[spoiler: murdering them when their backs are turned]], introducing him as both a powerful and charismatic man and
* GoodThingYouCanHeal: Played for BodyHorror- cut off a mermaid's tail and keep it on land, and it will grow legs instead [[spoiler: until put back in non-chlorinated water again]].
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* SlasherFilm: The movie becomes one once the mermaid is put in an institution, with [[spoiler: [[MadDoctor Dr. Beyer]] ]] in the role of the slasher.
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* WrongfullyCommitted: [[spoiler: It's heavily implied that this is part of Dr. Beyer's M.O., gathering a bunch of victims into a convenient place at once]].
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* BigBad: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer is a MadDoctor and serial killer who uses his private rehab facility to procure victims]].
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* CuteMute: The mermaid never has any lines in the movie, and is played by Alexandra Bokova, who is relatively attractive [[UnkemptBeauty her hair is full of seaweed]].
* DecoyProtagonist: The fishermen at the beginning of the film, trying to catch a mermaid to sate their curiosity, are killed [[spoiler: by Dr. Beyer's men]] by the 20-minute mark. The mermaid becomes the new protagonist and [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] becomes the BigBad.
* DecoyProtagonist: The fishermen at the beginning of the film, trying to catch a mermaid to sate their curiosity, are killed [[spoiler: by Dr. Beyer's men]] by the 20-minute mark. The mermaid becomes the new protagonist and [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] becomes the BigBad.
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* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Dr. Beyer is introduced as observing a fishing boat capturing a mermaid, then sneaking aboard, acting diplomatic when the fishermen have him at gunpoint (stating an intent to buy the Mermaid off of them for up to a million dollars), and then [[spoiler: murdering them when their backs are turned]], introducing him as both a powerful and charismatic man and [[a FauxAffablyEvil MadDoctor with an interest in killing people]].
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* MadDoctor: [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer is secretly a serial killer]].
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* ShoutOut: the BigBad [[spoiler: Dr. Beyer]] has a biography of serial killer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._H._Holmes H.H. Holmes]] that he uses as a lever to his BookcasePassage.
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* SeashellBra: Referenced in the opening dialogue- one of the sailors asks if Mermaids have coconut bras, to which another replies that they don't.
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* SkewedPriorities: Bordering on TooDumbToLive--Alex's ill-timed PottyEmergency sees her break from escaping the institute with the other patients to run back inside it in search of a bathroom. Sure enough, [[spoiler:she runs right into Dr. Breyer and is killed]].
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* SkewedPriorities: Bordering on TooDumbToLive--Alex's ill-timed PottyEmergency sees her break from escaping the institute with the other patients to run back inside it in search of a bathroom. Sure enough, [[spoiler:she runs right into Dr. Breyer Beyer and is killed]].
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* SkewedPriorities: Bordering on TooDumbToLive--Alex's ill-timed PottyEmergency sees her break from escaping the institute with the other patients to run back inside it in search of a bathroom. Sure enough, [[spoiler:she runs right into Dr. Breyer and is killed]].
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* PottyEmergency: As the patients are [[spoiler:fleeing the institute]], Alex (Shani Drake) says that she desperately has to pee and can't hold in any longer, and runs back to the bathroom. [[spoiler:She walks in on Dr. Beyer as he's shooting patients who didn't get out on time. He electrocutes her to death.]]
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* PottyEmergency: As the patients are [[spoiler:fleeing the institute]], Alex (Shani Drake) says that she desperately has to pee and can't hold in it any longer, and runs back to the bathroom. [[spoiler:She walks in on Dr. Beyer as he's shooting patients who didn't get out on time. He electrocutes her to death.]]
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* BookcasePassage: A bookshelf on [[spoiler:Dr. Beyer's boat]] turns into the door to [[spoiler:the room where he dissects people alive]] if you pull on the lever disguised as the biography of H.H. Holmes.
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* ImpaledPalm: [[spoiler:Sandra shoots Dr. Beyer right through the palm in an effort to protect the mermaid.]]
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* PottyEmergency: As the patients are [[spoiler:fleeing the institute]], Alex (Shani Drake) says that she desperately has to pee and can't hold in any longer, and runs back to the bathroom. [[spoiler:She walks in on Dr. Beyer as he's shooting patients who didn't get out on time. He electrocutes her to death.]]
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* PsychoPsychologist: Dr. Beyer is a sadist who delights in tormenting his patients. [[spoiler:He's also a serial killer.]]
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* BedlamHouse: From the outside, the Beyer Facility looks like a pleasant suburban house. Inside, the patients are subjected to all manner of abuse, in addition to the indignities of institutional life. At one point Dr. Beyer has the windows nailed shut because the patients abused their "window privileges" by making an escape attempt.
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* CarFu: Dr. Beyer is driving Sandra's car to work when he sees [[spoiler:the mermaid, with her tail grown back, slowly pushing herself across the street in a wheelchair that's now too small for her]]. He accelerates and rams into her, sending her flying, to Sandra's shock.
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* BewareOfViciousDog: [[spoiler:Dr. Beyer keeps a violently aggressive dog under the facility to which he occasionally feeds patients, including Linda.]]
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* NoNameGiven: The mermaid and the ghost are never named.
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* TheSpeechless: The mermaid can only vocalize in the form of grunts or shrieks. She also knows sign language, which her people learned long ago from pirates.
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* MermaidProblem: Referenced. [[spoiler:During his AttemptedRape, Dr. Beyer tries to cut the mermaid open to get access to her "fish parts."]]
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* JustFollowingOrders: The orderlies aren't actively malicious, but they also never question Dr. Beyer's orders, no matter how reprehensible. As one of them says, "I'm not the one with a [=PhD=]." [[spoiler:They do turn on him once they realize he's a murderer.]]
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* ComfortingComforter: The ghost helps the mermaid into a wheelchair, since her legs aren't strong enough to walk on. Then she pulls several blankets over the shivering mermaid's legs.
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* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: Charlotte (Eryn Rea) has been reading the romance novel ''Water Bound'' by Christine Feehan over and over again for the last two years.
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[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mermaid_down.jpg]]
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''Mermaid Down'' is a 2019 horror film directed by Jeffrey Grellman.
Two fishermen capture a mermaid (Alexandra Bokova) and cut off her tail. When the fishermen are killed, the mermaid is taken by Dr. Beyer (Burt Culver), who wants to study her. He takes her to his practice, the Beyer Psychiatric Facility for Women, pretending that she's a mentally ill human. The mermaid suffers abuse from Dr. Beyer, but finds solidarity with the other patients, and with a ghost (Meggan Kaiser) that haunts the facility.
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!!''Mermaid Down'' contains examples of:
* BinocularShot: Used when Dr. Beyer spies on the fishermen from his boat.
* BrokenAngel: When her tail is removed, the mermaid grows legs that look identical to those of a human. She says, through a sign language interpreter, that sailors used to take mermaids for their wives this way, and there are people today who are descended from merfolk and don't know it. [[spoiler:Once she's in non-chlorinated water again, her tail grows back.]]
* CreepyBasement: The facility's basement is unlit and flooded with about three feet of water. Dr. Beyer is told several times that it's a safety violation and he needs to have it blocked off, but he keeps it accessible so he can use it to punish patients.
* ElectricTorture: Dr. Beyer uses a taser to subdue the mermaid on several occasions.
* InvisibleToNormals: No one can see the ghost except the mermaid and a patient named June (Caroline Dunaway).
* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Everyone thinks the ghost is June's imaginary friend. The staff tell the other patients not to encourage her delusions.
* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret."
* SpitefulSpit: After the mermaid tells the other patients what she is, Reyna (Megan Therese Rippey), who thinks she's a faker, spits on her and says, "Fuck you, mermaid."
* SuperhumanTrafficking: The fishermen want to sell the mermaid's upper body and tail separately for millions each.
----
Two fishermen capture a mermaid (Alexandra Bokova) and cut off her tail. When the fishermen are killed, the mermaid is taken by Dr. Beyer (Burt Culver), who wants to study her. He takes her to his practice, the Beyer Psychiatric Facility for Women, pretending that she's a mentally ill human. The mermaid suffers abuse from Dr. Beyer, but finds solidarity with the other patients, and with a ghost (Meggan Kaiser) that haunts the facility.
----
!!''Mermaid Down'' contains examples of:
* BinocularShot: Used when Dr. Beyer spies on the fishermen from his boat.
* BrokenAngel: When her tail is removed, the mermaid grows legs that look identical to those of a human. She says, through a sign language interpreter, that sailors used to take mermaids for their wives this way, and there are people today who are descended from merfolk and don't know it. [[spoiler:Once she's in non-chlorinated water again, her tail grows back.]]
* CreepyBasement: The facility's basement is unlit and flooded with about three feet of water. Dr. Beyer is told several times that it's a safety violation and he needs to have it blocked off, but he keeps it accessible so he can use it to punish patients.
* ElectricTorture: Dr. Beyer uses a taser to subdue the mermaid on several occasions.
* InvisibleToNormals: No one can see the ghost except the mermaid and a patient named June (Caroline Dunaway).
* NotSoImaginaryFriend: Everyone thinks the ghost is June's imaginary friend. The staff tell the other patients not to encourage her delusions.
* PunishmentBox: Dr. Beyer has several tiny padded rooms in his basement where he locks the mermaid for telling the other patients their "secret."
* SpitefulSpit: After the mermaid tells the other patients what she is, Reyna (Megan Therese Rippey), who thinks she's a faker, spits on her and says, "Fuck you, mermaid."
* SuperhumanTrafficking: The fishermen want to sell the mermaid's upper body and tail separately for millions each.
----
