Mermaid Beach review – Wales gets its mermaidcore moment in teen-empowerment tale

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When discontented Lily becomes a fantastical sea creature her low-budget transformation is strikingly unconvincing, rather in tune with the whole film Mermaidcore comes to the Welsh coastline in this somewhat stilted family movie about a teenager called Lily who turns into a mermaid. You could imagine it being developed into a series for kids’ TV but as a film it unfortunately falls at the first hurdle – failing to pull off a convincing mermaid transformation. Poor Lily’s shimmering tail is very obviously made from nylon that becomes very clingy when wet, making her legs very visible under the scales. Ellie Bindman plays Lily, who has moved from London to the Welsh seaside with her family for her stepdad’s work. Resentful about leaving her friends, she is huffy, communicating with her mum Claire (Marie Wilson) primarily in eyerolls. Lily’s only friend in town is Shane (Jack Taruschio Thomas), an awkward, slightly odd trainee local reporter who is following a lead about a mermaid sighti...
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Band Four review – Hong Kong goes indie as musical family get the band back together

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Three generations of a talented family reunite unexpectedly, but there’s little surprising about their subsequent journey, despite its undeniable charms

You’d have to have a heart of brick to take against this earnest musical drama from Hong Kong about a single parent in an indie band dealing with her failed rocker dad suddenly walking back into her life (after leaving 20 years ago when she was little). It’s a warm and watchable valentine to music and starting afresh. But I did find something a bit make-believe and naive in its feelgood message about the power of music to heal old wounds; the idea that a sentimental chord or two could strum away the kind of pain and resentment it can take years of therapy to work through.

Cantopop star Kay Tse plays Cat, lead singer of Band Four, and single mum to pint-sized drumming prodigy Riley (Rondi Chan). Cat nursed her own mum through years of illness, and it’s at the funeral that her dad King makes an appearance – all of five foot nothing, a ponytail, rock star sunglasses and leather jacket. Real-life musician Teddy Robin Kwan plays it beautifully; beneath the swagger there’s an unmistakable air of genuine regret. King is back to make amends to Cat and he’s got a surprise: a teenage daughter, her half-sister. Cat is fuming but King shamelessly ingratiates himself with little Riley, who is delighted by his new grandpa and auntie.

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