Movie Thoughts: Mavka: The True Myth (2026)

• Released: March 1st, 2026
• Directed by: Katya Tsarik
• Running time: 1h 30min 
• Rating: 3.5/5 

• Synopsis

Lukian is a student out on a biology trip when he accidentally hits a mysterious girl with his car. She later turns out to be a Mavka, a forest spirit preying on impure men. But this Mavka and Lukian soon fall in love, and their relationship seems impossible, especially when the Mavka's masters, the Mermaids, forbid it. Will love conquer evil?

My Thoughts

I had no idea what I'd be getting into, but I was in the mood for a fantasy movie so I went to see it. And I was honestly pleasantly surprised. This isn't a big epic or anything, but for this small-scale love story, it's neat. It's quite neat. I liked it quite a bit.

The main characters of Lukian and the Mavka (later revealed to be called Ruta back when she was alive) were both interesting and likable and their connection felt believable. It was also just really wholesome seeing Lukian be super genuine and introducing Ruta to the wonders of nature and her slowly growing to appreciate what's around her. Interestingly, despite being a forest nymph herself, she doesn't really appreciate nature in any way until Lukian comes along. 

The main villains were the three Mermaids who control the Mavkas, and they did feel like a genuine threat. The fact that they're constantly manipulating stuff behind the scenes and are usually two steps ahead makes them genuinely pretty scary. Also, their presence. Just the way they're usually standing around and getting really in everyone's personal space just gives me the ick. Good villains. They might come back in a hypothetical sequel, who knows.

While nameless, I also enjoyed the character of the youngest Mavka, who suffered greatly back when she was alive but is also the most innocent and positive out of all the forest nymphs. And she's Ruta's number one supporter. I do hope we see her again in the sequel, considering she's still bound to the Mermaids by the end of this one.

Ruta also had a very satisfying arc of standing up to the Mermaids and starting to believe in love again after losing everything (including her life) to love before. It was just neat to see and rather well-written. Seeing her finally being able to shatter the control the Mermaids have over her was really, really satisfying.

This movie is also well-shot and it's got some really neat atmospheric shots going on. You can definitely tell that they didn't have the biggest budget, but it was still pretty impressive-looking. I also liked the music quite a bit.

Overall this was just a neat fantasy story. Not the biggest or most epic movie ever, but it doesn't need to be. It knew what it wanted to be and it stuck the landing. I do recommend this one if you can see it.