An unsuccessful fisherman named Syracuse is shocked when he pulls up a strange women in his fishing nets. She can't explain who she is or how she got in the water, but she doesn't want anyone besides Syracuse to see her. Syracuse must attempt to unravel the mystery or who or what she really is while trying to patch up his relationship with his ex-wife and take care of his sickly daughter.

Ondine possesses a style all it's own. It successfully blurs the line between fantasy and reality until the audience doesn't really know where one ends and the other begins. But, at it's heart Ondine is really about relationships and finding hope in desperate situations.

You truly care about all the characters and this is achieved by excellent performances from all the leads. Especially Alison Barry who is an amazing child actress and absolutely inspired as Annie, Syracuse's ailing daughter. Annie is convinced that Ondine is a Selke and revels in living in a fantasy that is much easier than her own life. The chemistry between Colin Farrell and Alicja Bachleda is another high point.

Ondine is not without it's flaws though. At points the drama can seem forced and it was starting to lose me towards the end. The ending is a little crazy as well, but that is fairly easy to forgive when considering all that works in the movie.

Ondine is an extremely heartfelt story and deserves a lot of praise for originality alone. I believe it is certainly worth watching at least once and hopefully it will get the attention it deserves.

Fisherman Syracuse (Colin Farrell) pull out a half-drowned Ondine (Alicja Bachleda) from his net. His daughter Annie is sick living with his ex-wife Maura. He lets Ondine stay in his late mother's cottage. Her singing seems to help with his catch. Annie starts to believe that Ondine is a selkie.

Neil Jordan has married a grungy indie with a sexy magical fable. The stark rundown harbor town contrast with the sexual fantasy being hinted at. It doesn't always blend together. It's a moody affair that doesn't completely work. I definitely wanted it to go harder into the fantasy realm but it seems intent on grounding it with the grungy real world.

I've always been a great admirer of writer/director Neil Jordan and consider him to be one of the greatest storytellers in the world of cinema. "Ondine" is one of my favorite movies of his, simply because it more or less represents a return to his roots and his devotion for fantasy/fairy-tale movies. Of course he will never make another masterpiece like "The Company of Wolves", but I very much prefer his fantasy films over the more mainstream and Hollywoodesque titles like "The Brave One" or "The Good Thief". Okay, so admittedly I'm a bit biased, but everything about "Ondine" feels right straight from the beginning. Beautiful images of the Irish Sea and coast side, enchanting music, a moody atmosphere and the immediate introduction of melancholic and deeply convoluted main characters. This film also finally offers native Irishman Colin Farrell the opportunity to depict the protagonist he was born to depict! Syracuse – nicknamed Circus because he used to behave like a clown when he was still a drunkard – is an independent fisherman on the verge of poverty, continuously in dispute with his alcoholic ex-wife and only trying to remain on the right path out of love for his severely ill daughter Annie. During the opening sequences of the film already, Syracuse drags his fishing nets back aboard of his boat and is astonished to find a beautiful girl caught in them. She calls herself Ondine and insists that only Syracuse knows of her existence. He shelters her in his deceased mother's coastal shed and doesn't mind keeping her around because all of a sudden his fisherman's nets are now miraculously full of thick juicy lobsters and rare quality salmons. When Annie finds out about Ondine, the little girl is convinced that she's a Selkie; a folklore mermaid-creature that can only remain on land if she marries a landsman and buries her seal coat. For the vast majority of its running time "Ondine" is a truly marvelous fantasy adventure with a dreamy atmosphere and identifiable characters. Unfortunately the climax is a bit disappointing, because Neil Jordan found it necessary to give a rational explanation at the end after all. I, for one, would have been perfectly satisfied if the plot remained mysterious and fantastic. "Ondine" is brought to an even higher quality-level thanks to the mesmerizing music of the awesome Icelandic band Sigur Rós (YouTube them in case you don't know their music!) and stellar performances from the entire ensemble cast. Colin Farrell is terrific, as stated already, but also the young girl Alison Barry impresses as Syracuse's daughter and Dervla Kirwan is brilliant as his loathsome and possessive ex- wife. Neil Jordan regular Stephen Rea appears as the priest where Syracuse goes to confess and – last but not least – there's the Polish actress Alicja Bachleda as the titular Ondine. She's a good actress and definitely one of the most ravishing beings – mermaid, human or otherwise – on this planet. I certainly don't blame Colin Farrell that he kept her close to him even long after the film was finalized