Netflix’s new film Damsel isn’t your average fairy tale where a beautiful maiden is swept off her feet by the man of her dreams. No, this story takes a much darker turn into a world where the seemingly “good guys” are, in fact, the bad guys. While the trailer made that very obvious to viewers ahead of the premier, readers be warned, there are spoilers ahead.
The first act follows a relatively stereotypical plot of a young woman set to marry a prince from a far-away kingdom to benefit both parties; one gets necessary food and money for their people and the other gets a beautiful young wife in time to pay homage to his ancestors, as is tradition. That is until our leading lady, Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown, Stranger Things) realizes – as she is chucked off the side of a cliff by her new husband – that she is the traditional sacrifice. As the lore goes, in order for the kingdom of Aurea to share their land with the mighty and terrifying dragon who ruled over the area before them, the king agreed to sacrifice his three daughters. Centuries later, they are still upholding this promise of sacrificing three “daughters” to the dragon with every new generation.
The ornate costuming in the first half of the film is amazing. Beautiful gowns and headpieces, shiny armor and golden crowns – it’s all so decadent, until it begins to feel off-putting. There’s a moment where Elodie and her prince are supposedly paying homage to the ancestors atop a cold dark mountain where onlookers are wearing emotionless gold masks. While this wasn’t Elodie’s first clue that something bad was probably going to happen, it was the most obvious. Leading up to that moment, we see her being dressed for her wedding adorned with a metal belt that can be used as a lantern and a suspiciously dagger-shaped corset bone. She’s being equipped with survival tools without even realizing it.
Once we reach the point of Elodie being thrown to the depths of the dragon’s lair, it’s left to Millie Bobby Brown and the dragon, impressively voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo (X3: The Last Stand), to keep the audience engaged for the next hour, a job they do quite well. This writer’s favorite character when all is said and done may be the dragon. Her motivation for wanting to kill innocent young women comes with a few twists that make her villain origin story believable and almost humanizing.
Having only seen Millie Bobby Brown in the role of Eleven and Enola Holmes, it honestly wasn’t a far reach for her to show up as the badass female lead we know she is. For the older millennial and above viewers, seeing Robin Wright play the villain, Queen Isabelle, was a fun departure from her iconic role as one of Hollywood’s O.G. damsels – Princess Buttercup from 1987’s cult classic The Princess Bride. Angela Bassett as Lady Bayford, is amazing as always and the perfect voice of reason against Elodie’s father, Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone, Black Widow), who knowingly trades his eldest daughter’s life for a massive amount of gold to help his subjects, not unlike the choice the original king of Aurea makes centuries earlier.
Lord Bayford ultimately realizes his horrible decision and attempts to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the dragon. Elodie, however, proves that she does not need anyone’s assistance in rescuing her, as she pieces together the real story of why women are sacrificed to the dragon. As it turns out, much like most of history, it was written through the lens of the storyteller and isn’t as factually accurate to what the dragon and her three slaughtered babies experienced. Hence the symbolism of paying three daughters.
If you’re looking for a family-friendly movie night filled with action, adventure, and a bit of fantasy, helmed by strong female leads, then Damsel might just be the fairy tale for you.
