Siren's Call

In a combination of documentary, road movie and science fiction, Sirens Call portrays its equally hybrid protagonist: Gina Rønning, a psychologist who gives the impression of being not from this planet. Between sci-fi-like scenes—in which Rønning appears as the mermaid Una, who returns after a long absence to a greatly changed Earth—she talks in interviews about her identity as a siren and about the American merfolk subculture in
which she found a home. 

As news reports tell stories of extreme drought and anti-LGBTQI+ policies, Una befriends the mer-goth Moth, with whom she takes a road trip across the US. In Portland, they encounter a merfolk community that isn’t just about self-acceptance and beautiful costumes, but also about activism, including for the rights of queer and trans people, and Black Lives Matter. The film navigates between fiction (or rather, imagination) and non-fiction, without ever taking sides.