Supported by government funding thanks in part to an endorsement from David Cronenberg, Patricia Rozema’s feature debut centers on Polly Vandersma (Sheila McCarthy), a Girl Friday for the curator of a private art gallery in Toronto. Through a video diary and Polly’s literal flights of fancy that unfold in her mind’s eye, Rozema’s delicate and distinct world-building reveal Polly’s purity of soul, sexual awakening, and ultimate growth. Offsetting her film’s deep psychological and spiritual meaning with a lightheartedness, Rozema has said about Mermaids: “It’s about the artist in all of us. And the discovery of sexual difference. It’s also about some serious ’80s shoulder pads.”