A mermaid can come ashore and still owe something to the sea. Start with Splash for a romance that depends on keeping a secret, The Little Mermaid for a bargain with a sea witch, or Lu Over the Wall for a friendship…

Items45The creator’s order
  1. 1Splash (1984)Splash (1984)6.3IMDbReleased Mar 9, 1984A mermaid can live in New York while she keeps out of water and protects the truth about herself. Madison’s romance becomes harder once ordinary life makes the secret expensive to keep. Start here for a funny city-scale take on a choice that can end an otherwise workable relationship.0
  2. 2The Little Mermaid (1989)The Little Mermaid (1989)7.6IMDbReleased Nov 17, 1989In Disney’s 1989 animated film, Ariel bargains away her voice for the chance to live on land. Choosing what she can say, and to whom, gives the familiar songs a role in the decision. It is a brisk first version of the story for a mixed-age audience.0
  3. 3Lu Over the Wall (2017)Lu Over the Wall (2017)6.8IMDbReleased May 19, 2017Lu is a mermaid drawn to a boy and his music in a fishing town that fears merfolk. The effort to come near the humans asks both sides to live with what happens when she makes contact. Pick it for a brightly animated friendship that takes a whole town’s reaction seriously.0
  4. 4The Mermaid (2016)The Mermaid (2016)6.2IMDbReleased Feb 8, 2016A mermaid named Shan hides what she is in order to approach a developer whose work threatens her home. The movie moves quickly between comedy, romance and environmental stakes. Pick it when the price of coming ashore should matter to more than one couple.0
  5. 5The Little Mermaid (2023)The Little Mermaid (2023)7.2IMDbReleased May 18, 2023In the 2023 live-action version, Ariel’s bargain still puts her voice and ability to speak for herself at risk. Go here after the animated film if you want a fuller view of how the two characters spend time together when one of them is having trouble communicating.0
  6. 6The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000)5.6IMDbReleased Jan 23, 2000Ariel’s daughter Melody grows up on land without being told what links her to the sea. The sequel asks which dangers a parent can keep away by keeping an identity secret. Watch it for a land-born child making choices that reverse part of Ariel’s original journey.0
  7. 7Splash, Too (1988)Splash, Too (1988)3.5IMDbReleased May 1, 1988The TV sequel starts after the original romance and asks how a mermaid and human can make a shared life work on land. Household problems and pressure around other marine animals give it a different scale from the first film’s courtship.0
  8. 8Aquamarine (2006)Aquamarine (2006)5.5IMDbReleased Mar 3, 2006A mermaid appears in the pool of two friends, hoping to prove that love is real. A countdown makes living around people a practical challenge, and the girls are useful because they know a social world she has hardly seen. Pick it for a sunny story where friendship matters alongside the romance.0
  9. 9The Thirteenth Year (1999)The Thirteenth Year (1999)5.9IMDbReleased May 15, 1999Cody discovers he belongs to the sea while trying to carry on as a teenage swimmer. The merman’s visible changes make hiding what he is part of getting through an ordinary school day. This is the light Disney Channel choice for merfolk identity seen from the boy’s side.0
  10. 10Scales (2017)Scales (2017)4.2IMDbReleased Jul 21, 2017Siren grows up on land before finding out what her connection to the sea means for her future. Use the 2017 family movie for the anxiety of discovering that an ordinary childhood included something the people around her were keeping quiet about.0