TITANIC OCEAN (Cannes 2026) – Review by Diane Carson
Titanic Ocean profiles women training to work as mermaids
Greek writer/director Konstantina Kotzamani Titanic Ocean delivers a pitch perfect profile of teenage Japanese women training at an elite boarding school. Each hopes to prove her abilities as a seductive, professional mermaid. Leading up to the 23rd International Mermaid Championships, the hopeful swimmers will endure competitive pressures amidst strong bonding as they spend days in the pool under the direction of Coach Kotaro. All believe that, as a dreamy, soft voiceover asserts, “A professional mermaid is a giver of dreams, and those dreams can be well paid.”
Reinforcing this belief, school administrator Mr. Nomura promises that “our school has a proven track record in the industry.” Thus the 17-year-old Akame (Arisa Sasaki) will push herself to physical limits to prove her superior talent. Within their dormitory world, each candidate will take a fantasy name. Akame, soon known as Deep Sea, will compete with colleagues Yokohama Blue (Kotone Hanase), Red Flame (Riku Nakamura), Fantasy (Aki Kigoshi), and Eternal Sunset (Haruna Matsui) to see who can keep their face in a bowl of water the longest, holding their breath to dangerous limits. As the official instruction progresses, the participants’ suppressed fear initiates the nightmare idea of the ocean full of monsters, particularly sharks. Countering this, again in voiceover, reassurance comes with the belief that “the most beautiful thing is a mermaid seducing a shark’s heart.” Even when envisioning the face of a huge wave “coming from deep in the ocean, rising up, relentlessly, a force so strong,” Deep Sea believes that “it doesn’t feel like the end of the world but the beginning of it.” This hints at the ethereal images that define this underwater existence and the mythic overlay that weaves its way through events. These women have immersed themselves in an alternative existence of mind and body.
Through numerous scenes as the young women practice twisting, turning, and somersaulting underwater in mermaid costumes complete with tails, the individuals remain easily differentiated through their names, the varieties of dyed hair, and the brightly colored costumes. The mermaids sensual movements and alluring posing effect an aesthetic, all but dreamlike ambiance throughout the film. Each trainee choosing her siren song intensifies the surreal, fantasy elements. Though its two hour plus running time slightly undermines the focused content, there is a lot to be said for losing oneself in this inviting liquid environment that accounts for seventy-one percent of the Earth’s surface. In Japanese with English subtitles, Titanic Ocean screens in the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard program.
