Chicago Underground Film Festival and Filmmakers Summit 2008

'Mermaid' is the story of Carl and Doris, darlings of marine biology whose marriage becomes strained under the weight of Archituethis dux., a.k.a., the giant squid. Upon discovering a beached squid, Carl begins a flashback to the events that lead up to the creatures untimely death: While Doris' attempt to rekindle the flame with a romantic calamari dinner, Carl pines away for that most elusive of sea creatures. He makes trips to the dock attempting to entice one with lobster, a squid favorite. His courtship is finally gratified with the aid of a steroid enhanced lobster as bait, and a clandestine love affair between he and the squid ensues. Doris becomes suspicious when she discovers seaweed in Carl's hair, and she receives a mysterious phone call. Carl decides to end the affair. The squid is clearly unhappy with this and she beaches herself. As the flashback ends, Carl examines the squid while in the lab and discovers she is still alive and merely stunned. He escapes for a rendezvous with the creature. Doris is left in the lab with the squid, who tries to strangle Doris. Doris wins the fight and drags the squid back to the dock and heaves her back into the ocean. The squid meets up with Carl and a climactic tango ensues, resulting in Carl's death. Doris later finds Carls body on the dock, and his glasses washed up on shore, teeming with Carl's legacy, thousands of hybrid squid babies with human heads.