--- title: "The Little Mermaid" year: 2023 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid" fi1m_id: "the-little-mermaid" imdb_id: "tt5971474" tmdb_id: 447277 wikidata_id: "Q24357415" fi1m_score: 58 critics_score: 71 critics_reviews: 14 published: "2026-09-10" updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:06.268174+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # The Little Mermaid (2023) Directed by Rob Marshall · 2h 15m · MPA PG · Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Romance ## Identity The Little Mermaid - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** the-little-mermaid - **IMDb ID:** tt5971474 - **TMDB ID:** 447277 - **Wikidata ID:** Q24357415 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5971474/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/447277, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24357415 **Fi1m score: 58** · Critics 71 from 14 reviews *In a sentence:* A star is born in a swimming pool nobody has cleaned > Halle Bailey sings ‘Part of Your World’ as if her life depends on it, and for four minutes the film is alive. Around her, Rob Marshall’s remake is long, murky under the water and afraid to change anything. ## Synopsis Ariel (Halle Bailey), youngest daughter of the sea king Triton (Javier Bardem), collects objects from the world above and wants to see it for herself. Her father forbids it and sends the crab Sebastian (voiced by Daveed Diggs) to keep an eye on her, with the fish Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) and the seabird Scuttle (Awkwafina) for company. When a ship founders in a storm, Ariel pulls Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King) from the water and sings to him on the shore before slipping away. The sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) offers her a bargain: legs in exchange for her voice, and three days to win a kiss. Rob Marshall directs Disney’s live-action remake of its 1989 animated musical, with Alan Menken’s songs and new numbers. ## Review Disney has spent a decade turning its cartoons back into photographs, and *The Little Mermaid* was always going to be the hard one. The 1989 film is drawn in colours the sea does not have, and most of its cast are fish. Rob Marshall, who made *Chicago* (2002) and *Mary Poppins Returns* (2018), keeps almost every scene, song and line the audience remembers and renders it all as if it had really happened. It runs 135 minutes, and the second of those hours is where the caution shows. It has one great asset and it knows it. Halle Bailey plays Ariel with her chin up and her eyes wide, a teenager who has decided the world is elsewhere and will not be talked out of it, and when she gets to ‘Part of Your World’ the film stops being an exercise. She sings it as a plea rather than a wish, and by the last line we were moved far more than we expected to be by a song we have heard in every school hall in the country. It is the only sequence here that is better than the cartoon. Then Alan Menken’s old melody ends and the film has to go back to being about a crab. The sea is where the trouble is. Dion Beebe shoots the underwater kingdom in a grey-green haze that is meant to read as depth and reads as murk; Ariel’s red hair is often the only colour in the frame and the only thing we can follow. The fish are real fish, so Sebastian is a crab with a crab’s face and Daveed Diggs’s voice coming out of it, and Flounder (Jacob Tremblay) is a flat, wet, vaguely alarmed thing with nothing to act with. ‘Under the Sea’ is staged as a reef in bloom, busy and competent, and we sat through it without once wanting to sing. The joke of the original was that the fish had faces. Marshall has taken the faces away and kept the choreography. Melissa McCarthy plays Ursula as a nightclub act, all shoulders and painted mouth, and ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ is the second time the film wakes up. She is not frightening, but she is enjoying herself, and enjoyment is thin on the ground down there. Javier Bardem’s Triton is a bearded man in a chair looking sorrowful, and the sorrow does not vary. Above the waves, Jonah Hauer-King gives Eric a restlessness of his own, so that for once the prince wants something too, and their day in the town is the best stretch of David Magee’s screenplay. Noma Dumezweni has some dry warmth as Eric’s mother, a queen who wants him kept off the water, and Art Malik’s Grimsby is the courtier who has seen all this before. Awkwafina’s Scuttle talks very fast and then raps, and we will leave it there. The land is better lit and better built. John Myhre gives the castle a sunlit harbour and a library full of maps, and Colleen Atwood dresses the market in cottons and the court in blue silk, so that Ariel in a borrowed dress looks like a girl who has never worn one. Menken’s new songs are the weak spot: they sit between the old ones like corridors between rooms, and the one given to Eric on a clifftop tells us what Hauer-King had already shown. Wyatt Smith cuts at a steady, unhurried pace that suits a musical and does not suit 135 minutes. Somewhere in the second hour we caught ourselves counting the songs left. Marshall understands a number. *Chicago* is a set of them held together with a plot, and it works because the plot is short. Here he has been asked to build a whole world, and worlds have to be crossed, and the crossing is dull. Among Disney’s remakes this one sits in the middle of the pile. Take the children; they will not mind the murk, and they will be quiet for the songs. Go yourself for Bailey, who deserves a film built around what she can do rather than around what someone else once drew. Sit near the front, where at least the sea is large. It opened in UK cinemas on 26 May 2023 and carries a PG. *Fi1m score 58, published 10 September 2026.* ## What the critics say The reviews agree on one thing almost to a person: Halle Bailey. Nearly every critic singles out her Ariel as the film’s strongest element, with praise for her singing and for a warmth that several say gives the character more inner life than the 1989 cartoon. Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula is the other name that keeps coming up. Beyond the two leads, the mood cools. The commonest complaints are the running time, the heavy computer-generated effects and the new songs, which more than one critic finds flat. A good number see it as one of Disney’s better live-action remakes, though few think it matches the original. The spread is wide for a film with no outright negative reviews: Deadline credits Rob Marshall’s direction with making it work, while the Los Angeles Times finds it padded and imitative, a creative dead end, and Vulture finds everything around Bailey dull. The middle ground is admiration for the star and a shrug for the rest. ## Straight answers **Is The Little Mermaid worth watching?** *The Little Mermaid* (2023) is worth watching for Halle Bailey and little else, and we scored it 58. Her ‘Part of Your World’ is the one sequence that improves on the cartoon, and Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula is good company; the underwater scenes are grey-green murk and the second hour drags. Children will be quiet for the songs, and adults should go for Bailey. **How long is The Little Mermaid, and what is it rated?** *The Little Mermaid* runs 2h 15m and is rated PG by the MPA in the US. It is an adventure and family film. **Where can I watch The Little Mermaid in the US?** *The Little Mermaid* is streaming on Disney+ in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **What should I watch after The Little Mermaid?** After *The Little Mermaid*, try [*The Little Mermaid*](https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid-1989) (1989, Fi1m 80): The drawn original: 83 minutes, fish with faces, and not a wasted frame. Then [*Song of the Sea*](https://film.one/film/song-of-the-sea) (2014, Fi1m 82): An Irish selkie tale, hand-drawn, quiet, and over before anyone checks a watch; and [*Splash*](https://film.one/film/splash) (1984, Fi1m 80): Daryl Hannah’s mermaid loose in New York; the comedy this film forgot to have. ### Reviews we read (19) - **Radio Times**, Dave Golder (4/5): One of the more successful Disney live-action remakes, largely faithful and lifted by strong performances, especially Halle Bailey’s charismatic Ariel. The new songs are singled out as the main letdown. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/the-little-mermaid-halle-bailey-review/) - **Total Film**, Molly Edwards (80/100, inferred): It is a fun, fresh and joyous reimagining strong enough to surpass the original, with standout performances from Halle Bailey as Ariel and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, plus vibrant visuals. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/the-little-mermaid-2023-review/) - **Variety**, Peter Debruge (80/100, inferred): Halle Bailey delivers a star-making turn as Ariel with a powerful rendition of 'Part of Your World,' and Melissa McCarthy is delicious as Ursula; together they anchor the remake despite its bloated length and maximalist visual effects. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey-melissa-mccarthy-1235620560/) - **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (75/100, inferred): Halle Bailey infuses Ariel with energy, passion, and vocal power that gives the film more dramatic substance and inner life than the original, though it is less charming and the direction lacks flair. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/the-little-mermaid-has-a-stellar-lead-performance-and-something-of-an-inner-life) - **The Times** (70/100, inferred): Halle Bailey gives a full-throttle performance supported by a stellar cast including Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarthy. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/the-little-mermaid-remake-film-review-disney-halle-bailey-s7kmg32hn) - **Empire**, Helen O'Hara (60/100, inferred): The film is a longer, darker and less compelling live-action remake than the animated original. It is saved by Halle Bailey’s charming performance, Melissa McCarthy’s sass and the story’s own eternal magic. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/the-little-mermaid/) - **Time Out**, Shaye Weaver (3/5): The review calls it an enjoyable but hardly groundbreaking return that adds just enough fresh elements while failing to live up to the original animated classic. Halle Bailey’s courageous and playful Ariel is singled out as the star attraction. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/the-little-mermaid-2023) - **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (50/100, inferred): Halle Bailey makes a lovely Ariel with strong pipes and empathy, but the remake is padded, imitative, and visually garish, feeling like a creative dead end even as 'Under the Sea' remains rousing. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-05-22/little-mermaid-review-disney-halle-bailey-melissa-mccarthy) - **Financial Times**, Danny Leigh (★★★☆☆): Halle Bailey delivers a charming and charismatic performance that stands out as the film's strongest element, but the rest is a bland and grindingly efficient live-action Disney remake undermined by boring CG and weak supporting turns. [Read](https://www.ft.com/content/0f4633dc-0632-49f7-97e5-8619405eaf39) - **Screen Daily**: The critic finds Disney’s live-action remake fails to make much of a splash due to slow pacing, over-wrought emotion and an outdated story that struggles to stand apart from the original. Technical achievements and lively supporting characters like Sebastian and Scuttle receive praise. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-little-mermaid-review/5182460.article) - **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw: The critic finds Halle Bailey the film's sole unmitigated triumph and a strong case for the live-action remake approach, but concludes that the CGI-heavy reworking fails to recapture the magic of the 1989 original. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/22/the-little-mermaid-review-ariel-disney-halle-bailey) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Lovia Gyarkye: The critic finds it a ho-hum adaptation buoyed by Halle Bailey's lovely lead turn, but it suffers from déjà vu and risk-aversion. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey-melissa-mccarthy-1235484161/) - **Vulture**, Angelica Jade Bastién: Halle Bailey is a delight, but everything around her is mercilessly dull and misguided; the remake curdles the original with minor changes and lacks imagination. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/2023/05/what-happened-to-the-frothy-pleasure-of-the-little-mermaid.html) - **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Rob Marshall's direction for making the live-action remake work, highlighting Halle Bailey's stellar performance as Ariel and the successful staging of musical numbers. [Read](https://deadline.com/2023/05/the-little-mermaid-review-rob-marshalls-live-action-take-disney-animated-classic-1235368418/) - **Digital Spy**, Iona Rowan (80/100, inferred): This is Disney's best live-action remake, retaining the heart of the original while adding fresh elements and strong performances, especially Halle Bailey's magical turn as Ariel. Some visual effects feel rough and the film runs a bit long. [Read](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a43900572/little-mermaid-review/) - **Collider**, Ross Bonaime (B): The critic finds it one of the rare Disney live-action remakes that captures the magic of the original, though it can't match the animated classic. They single out the expanded character development, particularly making the romance between Ariel and Eric feel mutual and deeper. [Read](https://collider.com/the-little-mermaid-2023-review/) - **/Film**, Vanessa Armstrong (7.5/10): The critic finds the live-action remake well done, praising Halle Bailey's performance as Ariel and the vivid presentation of the songs, while noting improvements to the story's relationships; criticizes Javier Bardem's wooden portrayal of King Triton. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1292418/the-little-mermaid-review/) - **The Wrap** (70/100, inferred): The critic notes the darker, more realistic tone, praises Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy's performances, but criticizes the new songs as flat. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey/) - **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (2.5/5): The film is long and perfunctory, suffering from creative exhaustion under Rob Marshall's direction. Halle Bailey delivers a sincere, heartfelt performance as Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy is a delight as Ursula. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-little-mermaid-review-halle-bailey-bright-part-of-disney-remake-world/) ## Details - **Director:** Rob Marshall - **Director:** Rob Marshall - **Screenplay:** David Magee - **Cinematography:** Dion Beebe - **Editor:** Wyatt Smith - **Music:** Alan Menken - **Production design:** John Myhre - **Costume design:** Colleen Atwood, Christine L. Cantella - **Producer:** Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marc Platt, Rob Marshall - **Cast:** Halle Bailey as Ariel; Jonah Hauer-King as Eric; Melissa McCarthy as Ursula; Javier Bardem as King Triton; Noma Dumezweni as The Queen; Art Malik as Sir Grimsby; Daveed Diggs as Sebastian (voice); Jacob Tremblay as Flounder (voice) - **Runtime:** 2h 15m - **Certificate (MPA):** PG - **Release (the US):** 26 May 2023 - **Genres:** Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Romance - **Budget:** $297 million - **Box office:** $570 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpGo2_d3oYE ## Where to watch in the US - Disney+: streaming, uhd - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd - Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, hd - Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-10.* Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IE, IL, IS, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TR, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie 2024: Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie (nominated) ## If you liked this - *The Little Mermaid* (1989), Fi1m 80: The drawn original: 83 minutes, fish with faces, and not a wasted frame — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid-1989.md) - *Ponyo* (2008): Miyazaki’s fish-girl who wants legs, and a sea that actually looks alive - *Song of the Sea* (2014), Fi1m 82: An Irish selkie tale, hand-drawn, quiet, and over before anyone checks a watch — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/song-of-the-sea.md) - *Splash* (1984), Fi1m 80: Daryl Hannah’s mermaid loose in New York; the comedy this film forgot to have — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/splash.md) - *Cinderella* (2015), Fi1m 72: Branagh’s remake, the one that trusts the story and gets out in under two hours — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/cinderella.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/the-little-mermaid