Sirens of the Deep marks Netflix’s second venture into animated Witcher territory, following Nightmare of the Wolf – which was a damn good movie. When I heard the same studio behind Nightmare of the Wolf was tackling Sirens of the Deep, I was justifiably hyped about it. Finally, my favorite short story from the books was getting the small screen treatment – fuck yeah.
The movie adapts A Little Sacrifice, one of the absolute best short stories from the books. Think A Little Mermaid, but reimagined as this dark, gritty tale of unrequited love with layers of character depth. So, what did I think of this new animated take? Well, it’s a fun action movie … but holy hell, does it have some glaring issues.
A Little Sacrifice isn’t just any story – it’s legendary among fans, deserving proper respect and care in how it’s adapted. Instead, Sirens of the Deep went for this weirdly Disney-fied approach rather than embracing what made the source material so powerful. Now look, I’m not some book purist who screams bloody murder at every change. I’m totally cool with adaptations making changes, but only if they’re actually improving things or at least matching the quality of what they’re replacing.
There’s a reason A Little Sacrifice is universally beloved by Witcher fans – it hits hard with its mix of love, sacrifice, and longing, all wrapped up in Sapkowski’s signature wit and fairy-tale subversion. The producers of Sirens of the Deep were already fighting an uphill battle the moment they decided to take creative liberties with the adaptation. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still a solid action movie that kept me entertained, but man, I can’t help feeling disappointed by how they handled the actual story.
Spoilers ahead.
WRITING WOES CONTINUE
This movie took some liberties with A Little Sacrifice, and while I’m all for creative adaptation, these changes seriously weakened the story.
Sure, they probably made these changes to justify and set up all the action – the book only really had one fight scene, when Geralt and Jaskier discover the steps to the deep. And look, the action in this movie is absolutely amazing. And it’s arguably what holds the whole thing together because the story itself is pretty damn thin. There’s zero narrative tension throughout the entire story.
But what really got under my skin was that bizarre Ursula-style musical sequence halfway through. Like, yeah, I get it – this is your Little Mermaid homage, and you’re desperately trying to telegraph to the audience, “Hey! See this Melusina character? Total villain!” As if the Disney-standard purple and black color scheme wasn’t already beating us over the head with it. But here’s the thing – A Grain of Truth was based on Beauty and the Beast, and they didn’t feel the need to break into song there, did they? It’s just patronizing. It completely breaks the tone and treats the audience like we’re idiots who can’t pick up on basic character cues. Where’s the nuance? The moral grayness that makes The Witcher, you know, The Witcher?
The premise itself is laughably weak – a human kingdom somehow thinking they can wage war against underwater creatures who can sink their ships with ease. Come on. And while the whole “two kingdoms on the brink of war with shady characters stirring up trouble” trope usually works, it falls completely flat here. Sure, they try to play with moral ambiguity, but they reduce it to “humans are greedy” without any of the original’s complexity – the legitimate needs of a fishing kingdom and the horrors lurking in the deep.
They completely missed what made the original story so damn powerful – the raw, complicated relationship between Geralt and Essi. In the book, the fish-people conflict is just background noise. The book gives us this beautifully messy situation where Geralt clearly has feelings for Essi but is unable to give her what she wants because he’s hopelessly in love with Yen. It’s painful, it’s real, and it’s completely sidelined by action scenes and fish-people politics.
What’s particularly frustrating is how they keep dangling these little moments from the book in front of us, like they’re taunting book readers. That balcony scene between Essi and Geralt? In the book, it leads to a kiss that Geralt immediately regrets – here, it goes nowhere, no kiss! The pearl hunting sequence hints at that meaningful gift Geralt gives Essi – you know, the pearl she cherishes for life and is buried with? the last piece of Geralt she ever holds? Completely abandoned. That gut-punch of an ending that everyone remembers? They didn’t even attempt it. And don’t even get me started on how they butchered the “little sacrifice” itself. Instead of She’annaz making the powerful choice to leave her underwater life for love, they flip it so the Duke makes the sacrifice. It reeks of pandering to modern audiences because god forbid, She’annaz swaps her tail for legs to be with Agloval – that would be too “patriarchal,” right?
This adaptation misses not just the plot points but the entire spirit of the source material. Instead, what we got is basically The Little Mermaid with more swordplay and fewer musical numbers (well, except for that one scene, but we already covered that travesty).
SAVING GRACE
Look, I’ve been pretty harsh on Sirens of the Deep, but it’s definitely not all doom and gloom – remember when I said this was a fun action movie?
First off, the fight scenes are absolutely phenomenal. Animation was the perfect medium for this story, letting Studio Mir (the talented folks behind this and Nightmare of the Wolf) create some jaw-dropping action sequences that would’ve cost a small fortune in live action.
The talent behind this thing is stacked. Doug Cockle slides right back into Geralt’s gravelly voice like he never left, delivering that signature performance we’ve all grown to love. Joey Batey and Anya Chalotra bring their A-game reprising Jaskier and Yennefer, and the newcomers knock it out of the park too (well, maybe except for Essi’s character). We even get House of the Dragon’s Emily Carey as Sh’eenaz! And whoever designed that melodic merpeople language deserves a raise – it’s absolutely mesmerizing to listen to. Speaking of Batey, his musical numbers are scattered throughout, and they’re as catchy as ever, even if the overall soundtrack plays it pretty safe.
But here’s where Sirens of the Deep surprisingly really shines – the humor. Holy hell, this is hands down one of the funniest pieces of Witcher media Netflix has produced. People sometimes forget that beneath all the darkness and gore, The Witcher has always had this wickedly funny streak. While the live-action show dabbled in it with Cavill’s iconic “hmm”s and “fuck”s, Cockle’s Geralt takes it to another level. There’s this beautiful, sarcastic edge to his cynicism that makes you believe he’s genuinely cracking himself up. It feels exactly like the humor from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – and that’s high praise. I found myself laughing multiple times throughout the movie – and no, I wasn’t laughing at the subpar writing.
For all its story issues, this universe works brilliantly in animation, and I would honestly love to see more Witcher tales told in this style. Ideally, these stories should be faithful to the books, but if you can look past their faithfulness to the source material and just take it as its own thing, it’s a pretty entertaining ride.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Here’s the thing about Sirens of the Deep – it’s not a trainwreck, but it definitely can’t hold a candle to either Nightmare of the Wolf or its source material. I’m honestly torn here. On the one hand, we got exactly what we wanted: more animated Witcher content in the vein of Nightmare of the Wolf, complete with stunning visuals, brutal kills, and gorgeous gore. But on the other hand … man, the story just feels empty. It completely misses the emotional gut-punch that made A Little Sacrifice so memorable.
You know that quote from season 1 where Geralt says something’s “like ordering a pie and finding it has no filling”? That’s this movie in a nutshell. The weak writing drags everything down, showing a fundamental lack of understanding and passion for the source material. Sure, we can nibble on the crust – those flashy action sequences and beautiful animation – but eventually, you start craving something more substantial.
That’s really what bugs me about this whole thing. It’s all style, zero substance. And while I love a good action scene as much as the next person, that’s not what made me fall in love with The Witcher universe. I fell for the rich writing, the complex characters, the fascinating nuances of The Continent – all the stuff that makes you want to dive deeper and discuss for hours – Just like we do here at The Path! That’s why this blog was created in the first place!
Sirens of the Deep just … isn’t that. It never could be, because that’s not what A Little Sacrifice was meant to be.
Look, if you’re a Witcher fan with some time to kill, go ahead and give it a watch. Just crack open a few beers, shut off your brain, and enjoy the ride. But if you’re actually hungry for a good story? Do yourself a favor and either watch Nightmare of the Wolf or read A Little Sacrifice. Trust me, you’ll get way more satisfaction out of either of those.
FINAL VERDICT – 6/10
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