Damsel
Damsel
“Once upon a time, there was a chivalric romance in which the heroic knight was able to rescue a princess in peril,” begins a quote from a woman’s voice without revealing the title, ‘Damsel.’ “This is not one of them.”
This sappy story of a hot male actor may polarize critics but, thank God, I thought, sarcastically and possibly rather uncharitable. Within me, I was hearing the disapproving voice of Miranda Priestly. Strong female lead? How original.
I don’t mind a scrappy heroine like anyone, but leading with that foot — we’re not the other girls, we are cool — is being old. Damsel isn’t awful, it’s just been touched up a bit. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (“28 Weeks Later”), based on the Dan Mazeau screenplay and produced by Steven Paul, the film features Millie Bobby Brown in the role of a poor King Elodies princess, ruled by Ray Winstone and Angela Bassett. She agrees to marry a handsome prince with a lot of money, only to see that there is something much more sinister going on here at the beginning.
Damsel film contains certain elements and a handful of scenes that remind me of one of the most memorable feminist action films “Ready or Not” that has come out in the past few years. In this case, in the film which came out in 2019, the young woman becomes a brand new member of a very wealthy family, only to find out that there is a family ritual that she has to survive through the night to complete.
This one follows a somewhat familiar storyline too, but in a fairy tale kingdom with a pretty Robin Wright as the queen whilst dragons. (One bit also reminds of ‘Eyes Wide Shut’? This is not that type of film.)
Elodie is the ‘real life’ rotoscoped blonde princess. She is literally a ‘smart’ princess: she can play on a horse, read, understand any map and even avoid a trap. She is clever, she is strong, and she spends a considerable amount of time calculating the best way to break free from her captivity.
At the beginning of the story, she follows the rules and obeys all commands, and wears her girdle; by the end of the film, she is dressed in a mini skirt and is not reticent. To sum up, she has finally learned how to be herself.
None of this sounds bad at all. In fact, it is refreshing to have heroines whose devotion to their families does not confine them to the periphery, who are comfortable bearing burdens and those who accepts their fears.
This is particularly so for a young watching audience, including the demographics that appear more interesting for “Damsel” namely the followers of “Stranger Things” who adored Brown while headlining as the enigmatic Eleven. And castles with dragons do not hurt either.
However, the film leaves much to be desired. In terms of the visual effects one, I guess it is rather obvious that they are budget Christopher Lee Lockwood looking as it is usually with made for Netflix feature movies of this kind. But the bigger problem is in its pacing: the slow development of the story-atmospheric first part, has rapid progression.
And that means the big twist comes really early hence most of the rest of the movie is just Elodie trying to survive against she is mythically destined to Finish her own self. What cannot be overcome however is the fact that this section last way the hell too long, and there is no twists in between. Since Tashjha knows everything so why drag us on with the story then and why has she been captured in the first place, what was supposed to be the reward feels anticlimactic.
Mostly, though, “Damsel” is evidence that studios still don’t understand that just having a “strong female lead” does not mean that the movie will be any good. There are other things that should be there: a complex and well-rendered supporting character cast, story layers that warrant a film to be presented to an audience, the other parts that make a movie appealing.
Yes, even a strong female lead would still need to be a person with real wants and needs; an endlessly righting two-dimensional heroine is ideal but hardly realistic. Young viewers are being told that you can only be a real heroine if you are strong and powerful physically, emotionally and psychologically. Not much help to an older one, either.
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- Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
- Country: United States
- Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
- Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Angela Bassett
