A fisherman named Syracuse (Colin Farrell), is a devilish, irresponsible loner, separated from his former wife and distanced from Annie, his wheelchair-bound daughter. But everyone's drab and ordinary life is about to change with the arrival of the ethereal Ondine, the woman from the sea, who may or may not be real. Annie has a powerful belief in folklore, and the world-weary Syracuse soon finds himself believing that the stranger may well be a myth come true, a woman sent to change his life and a powerful force for love and hope. As Syracuse falls under Ondine's captivating spell, he discovers that his relationship with his daughter undergoes the same kind of magical transformation. All the trials and tribulations of life seem to be replaced by a marvellous halo of possibilities. Reality will make an appearance again, but not before Jordan spins his own dreamlike web, using both character and landscape to transport us to another, heightened plane of believability. The film is a welcome homecoming for Jordan, and his feel for the rhythms of Irish life is immediately visible. Ondine works as a beautifully wrought fable, a romantic re-imagining of the dreary lives of working people, lifted out of their daily routines by an exquisite, unfathomable stranger who suddenly appears in their midst. Christopher Doyle's atmospheric cinematography is a further accent to this wonderful Irish tale, the kind told on a rainy evening in a pub with a Guinness in hand.