While watching Sirenomelia, it felt very off-putting and almost uncomfortable to watch. The sounds in the background and visuals in the beginning definitely contributed to this feeling. It reminded me of watching an episode of Black Mirror where you are so drawn in but you’re not really sure why. It’s simultaneously familiar, while also unsettlingly surreal. The juxtaposition of the mermaid figure against the backdrop of a decommissioned NATO base in the Arctic Circle creates the surreal atmosphere, similar to the unsettling scenes often seen in the Black Mirror episodes. When the camera panned to the mermaid swimming in an industrialized area, it created a contrast that shows the clash between nature and human intervention. It kind of made me feel uneasy as there could easily be mythical creatures living among the ocean and coexisting with the manmade. I think this scene portrays the consequences of industrialization on ecosystems and the intrusion of human activity on natural environments. The inoperative site once filled with activity and human presence now stands abandoned and still, serving as an obstruction among the surrounding natural environment. This sense of desolation, isolation, and decay of the abandoned landscape adds to the overall uneasiness that I felt and I’m sure other viewers felt through watching the film. I feel as if the mermaid and the decommissioned base serve as constructs of past and present, as well as imagination versus reality. The mermaid is a timeless presence, as they have been ingrained across numerous cultures and time periods. They tend to symbolize the untamed forces of nature and the lure of the unknown. The mermaid exists beyond time constraints and can transcend boundaries, or even the lack thereof.

The ending of the film shows the mermaid swimming, on the open ocean from an aerial view. To me, I think this truly shows the endless possibilities and unknowns that may lie in the ocean and beyond the known world. Just as the ocean offers a limitless amount of opportunities, so does the human imagination. Knowing how vast the ocean is truly scares me and maybe it should. Maybe we weren’t meant to explore the ocean, but I still find myself questioning what we are missing by not diving deeper.