The Mermaid
Despite a mid-range budget of $60.7M, The Mermaid became a box office phenomenon, earning $553.8M worldwide—a remarkable 812% return.
Plot Structure
Story beats plotted across runtime
Narrative Arc
Emotional journey through the story's key moments
Story Circle
Blueprint 15-beat structure
Structural Analysis
The Status Quo at 1 minutes (1% through the runtime) establishes Liu Xuan, wealthy playboy businessman, celebrates acquiring Green Gulf through sonar technology that will drive out sea life. He lives a superficial life of wealth, parties, and conquest.. Structural examination shows that this early placement immediately immerses viewers in the story world.
The Collapse moment at 73 minutes (61% through) represents the emotional nadir. Here, The merpeople are attacked violently. Many are killed or captured. Shan is shot and grievously wounded saving Liu Xuan. The octopus elder dies. The whiff of death is literal - the massacre represents the destruction of innocence and the near-death of love and hope., illustrates the protagonist at their lowest point. This beat's placement in the final quarter sets up the climactic reversal.
The Synthesis at 79 minutes initiates the final act resolution at 65% of the runtime. The final confrontation between Liu Xuan/merpeople and Ruolan's forces. The merpeople use their abilities to fight back. Liu Xuan proves his transformation is complete by risking everything. Ruolan is defeated. Shan is miraculously revived by the ocean/her people., demonstrating the transformation achieved throughout the journey.
Emotional Journey
The Mermaid's emotional architecture traces a deliberate progression across 9 carefully calibrated beats.
Narrative Framework
This structural analysis employs structural analysis methodology used to understand storytelling architecture. By mapping The Mermaid against these established plot points, we can identify how the filmmaker utilizes or subverts traditional narrative conventions. The plot point approach reveals not only adherence to structural principles but also creative choices that distinguish The Mermaid within its genre.
Plot Points by Act
Act I
SetupStatus Quo
Liu Xuan, wealthy playboy businessman, celebrates acquiring Green Gulf through sonar technology that will drive out sea life. He lives a superficial life of wealth, parties, and conquest.
Theme
The octopus elder tells the merpeople: "Humans have destroyed our home. We must fight back or perish." The theme of environmental destruction versus profit, and whether love can bridge that divide, is established.
Worldbuilding
We see Liu Xuan's empty lifestyle of materialism and exploitation. Meanwhile, the merpeople colony hiding in a beached shipwreck suffers from his sonar weapons. Shan, a young mermaid, volunteers for a mission to seduce and kill Liu Xuan.
Resistance
Shan continues attempts to get close to Liu Xuan, receiving guidance from the octopus and other merpeople. Liu Xuan becomes increasingly fascinated by her innocence and genuineness. Shan struggles with her mission as she sees humanity in him.
Act II
ConfrontationPremise
Liu Xuan and Shan's romance blossoms. He experiences genuine love and joy for the first time. Shan experiences the human world beyond its destructive side. The comedy and romance of a mermaid-human relationship plays out with charm and whimsy.
Opposition
Ruolan, Liu Xuan's jealous partner, discovers the merpeople and sees them as valuable specimens/threats. She orchestrates a hunt for the merpeople. Liu Xuan and Shan try to protect the colony but face increasing danger from human weaponry and greed.
Collapse
The merpeople are attacked violently. Many are killed or captured. Shan is shot and grievously wounded saving Liu Xuan. The octopus elder dies. The whiff of death is literal - the massacre represents the destruction of innocence and the near-death of love and hope.
Crisis
Liu Xuan despairs as Shan dies in his arms. He realizes the full cost of human greed and his own complicity. The surviving merpeople retreat in grief. This is the dark night where all seems lost and the price of love appears to be death.
Act III
ResolutionSynthesis
The final confrontation between Liu Xuan/merpeople and Ruolan's forces. The merpeople use their abilities to fight back. Liu Xuan proves his transformation is complete by risking everything. Ruolan is defeated. Shan is miraculously revived by the ocean/her people.