
The Mermaid: Lake of the Dead
2018

2015
16+Director
Huh Eun-hee
Runtime
118 minutes
Average Rating
No ratings yetSynopsis
Hye-Joong (Jung So-Min) can't remember anything before the age of 4. Every night she experiences terrible nightmares. Unable to cope with the nightmares anymore, she heeds the advice of a shaman and goes back to the villa where her family stayed 24 years ago. The villa is now known as "Wonderland." There, she meets Hwan (Hong Jong-Hyun), Soo-Ryun (Jung Yeon-Joo) and a white rabbit. During the next 15 days, Hye-Joong has to find something that is missing. If she succeeds her nightmares will stop.
Overall Score
Fair
Category Breakdown
LGBTQ+ Representation
The story focuses on a romantic connection between Hye-Joong and Hwan. There is no evidence of queer narratives or non-cisnormative identities present.
Gender Representation
Hye-Joong serves as the central protagonist driving the investigation. However, the film may still rely on traditional vulnerability tropes common to the horror genre.
Racial & Ethnic Diversity
As a South Korean production, the film offers a non-Western perspective. The cast and setting appear largely homogeneous within its domestic context.
Religious & Cultural Diversity
The inclusion of a shaman provides a localized spiritual framework. This moves the narrative away from standard Western secular or Christian structures.
Disability Representation
The protagonist deals with significant psychological distress and recurring nightmares. It remains unclear if these are treated with agency or used as horror plot devices.
Strengths
Areas for Improvement
AI Analysis
Alice: Boy from Wonderland is a genre-driven South Korean fantasy-horror that prioritizes individual psychological resolution over systemic social critique. While it avoids Western-centric religious tropes by incorporating shamanism, the narrative remains largely conventional in its character dynamics. The film provides a non-Western lens through its cultural setting, yet it lacks the intersectional depth or diverse casting required to push beyond a mid-range score. It functions primarily as a localized mystery rather than a tool for social subversion.
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