6.5
Viewer Rating
Combines user and critic ratings from four sources
Comedy, Drama, Romance • 1990 • 110 min • Teen (13+)
Mermaids (1990)
Mermaids (1990)
Overview
Set in 1960s New England, Mermaids follows Charlotte Flax, a teenager longing for stability while her free-spirited single mother, played by Cher, uproots the family whenever life gets complicated. The story is built on the tension between Charlotte's pull toward conventional life and her mother's cheerful resistance to it. That push-pull lands the film at Leans Traditional. The family structure is unconventional, nudging progressive, but Charlotte's yearning for roots, the positive treatment of Christianity through her character, and the overall arc toward acceptance within a stable family unit tip the balance. The 1960s setting reinforces traditional social textures without endorsing them as a political statement.
Starring Cast
Cher • Bob Hoskins • Winona Ryder
Where to watch
Rating & Dimensions
Bias Rating
Analyzing...
Leans Traditional
Political: Center
Diversity: Low
Family Values: Leans Progressive
Christianity: Positive
Viewer Rating
6.5
Overview
Set in 1960s New England, Mermaids follows Charlotte Flax, a teenager longing for stability while her free-spirited single mother, played by Cher, uproots the family whenever life gets complicated. The story is built on the tension between Charlotte's pull toward conventional life and her mother's cheerful resistance to it. That push-pull lands the film at Leans Traditional. The family structure is unconventional, nudging progressive, but Charlotte's yearning for roots, the positive treatment of Christianity through her character, and the overall arc toward acceptance within a stable family unit tip the balance. The 1960s setting reinforces traditional social textures without endorsing them as a political statement.
Starring Cast
Cher • Bob Hoskins • Winona Ryder
Where to watch
Detailed Bias Analysis
Analyzing...
Leans Traditional
Primary
Political: Center
Confidence: High
The film explores the complexities of an unconventional family's dynamics and a daughter's coming-of-age, balancing themes of individual freedom and the search for stability without explicitly promoting a specific political ideology.
Diversity: Low
Confidence: High
The film features a predominantly white main cast, consistent with traditional casting for its 1960s New England setting, without intentional race or gender swaps of established roles. The narrative centers on family relationships and personal growth, offering no explicit critique of traditional identities, and DEI themes are not central to the story.
Secondary
Family Values: Leans Progressive
Confidence: High
The film portrays a single-parent family led by a mother with fluid relationships and non-traditional gender roles, while the daughter yearns for stability and traditional norms, ultimately normalizing alternative family arrangements.
Christianity: Positive
Confidence: High
The film portrays Charlotte's deep engagement with Catholicism with sympathy and nuance, as a genuine part of her search for identity and stability amidst a chaotic family life. The narrative explores her personal, sometimes extreme, interpretation of faith without ridiculing the religion itself.
LGBTQ: N/A
Confidence: High
Mermaids (1990) centers on the unconventional life of Rachel Flax and her two daughters, Charlotte and Kate, as they navigate relationships, coming-of-age, and finding a sense of home in 1960s Massachusetts. The narrative does not feature any identifiable LGBTQ+ characters or explore themes related to queer identity.
Trans: N/A
Confidence: High
The film Mermaids (1990) does not feature any identifiable transsexual characters or themes. The narrative focuses on a mother and her two daughters navigating family dynamics and adolescence, without exploring gender identity or transition in its plot or character arcs.
Female Combat: N/R
The movie does not contain any action or adventure elements.
Gender Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film is an adaptation of a novel, and all primary characters maintain the same gender as established in the original source material. No character originally depicted as one gender is portrayed as a different gender in the film.
Race Swap: No
Confidence: High
The film is an adaptation of a 1986 novel. All main characters, who were depicted as white in the source material, are portrayed by white actors in the film. No character's race was altered from its established baseline.
Hinduism: N/A
Confidence: High
Not depicted in the film.
Viewer Rating Breakdown
User Ratings
6.7
6.7
Critic Ratings
7.1
5.6
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