DAMSEL ON NETFLIX LETS YOU KNOW IT’S NOT WHAT TO EXPECT

“Once upon a time…” is a fair way to start any story about princes and princesses, faraway lands, dragons and heroes. It doesn’t matter if the story is basically the same or not. The usual formula has a damsel in distress being rescued by a a noble man and they fall in love and live happily ever after. Simple, yes but usually enough to satisfy the audience. As time as gone on those stories have been made into plays. musicals, TV shows, movies, and even rides at amusement parks. The last decade or so the stories have changed a bit and the woman in peril doesn’t necessarily need a man to save her anymore for the story to have a happy ending. Netflix’s new movie “Damsel” tells you right away that it’s not the same old story you’ve heard before, and simply watching the trailer lets the viewer know that this princess will save herself.

“Damsel” stars Millie Bobbie Brown of “Stranger Things” fame as the princess, Elodie. The country she lives in is a cold and rough land that doesn’t have a lot of wealth. right away we are shown that even the princess has chores to do in this land and is quite capable of surviving on her own. However, this is still a story told in times where royalty were married to one another in order to strengthen alliances and keep bloodlines royal in nature. We learn quickly that Elodie is to be married to a Prince Henry and join a very wealthy family. The land they go to is warm and beautiful and the kingdom’s wealth is grand. There is a secret brewing with her new family led by Queen Isabelle played by Robin Wright who is cold and calculating in her grace. Shortly after her marriage Elodie is quickly thrown into a cave as a sacrifice to a dragon and she must find a way to survive and escape from her precarious position without a knight or prince seemingly coming to her rescue. Along the way she finds out the secret of her sacrifice goes deeper then the cave she’s trapped in.

“Damsel”, as I stated doesn’t try to pretend to be something it’s not nor does it apologize for itself. That’s what makes it so good. I had two concerns when sitting down to watch it 1) Would it try too hard to be a “I don’t need a man’s help” story with far too many messages and lessons. 2) Would it stick to it’s premises that a female hero can be strong, but still vulnerable. No one wants to be preached too much to and you don’t want to see them go so far down the road only to cop out on the finale. Brown is a strong actress and her eyes are very emotive. She can tell you a lot with simple facial gestures and looks. When someone spends most of a movie on their own you need to see this because no one else is there to reflect it. If you’ve seen her previous work then you know she can pull off being both strong and vulnerable. She seems to do it with ease here. They didn’t portray her as a tomboy that only wants to play with swords and refuses to ever get married which causes her to hate her position and parents. Instead, they make her a strong woman who knows that what she does helps her people even if she wants a little more in life. They stay away from having her runaway or be rude to her potential suitor just to prove the point that she doesn’t need a man to be strong. It was refreshing to say the least. Her supporting cast might not be in the movie as much as her, but they support her perfectly when they are together. Prince Henry – Nick Robinson comes off as both charming and tortured by his position. You will like him because you know that he is good, but you will understand him better when you see his final act. Wright comes off perfectly nasty in all the right ways and you quickly find she has no redeeming qualities. Instead of a wicked stepmother we get Angela Bassett as Elodie’s and her sister Floria’s stepmother who truly loves them and they respect her. Elodie’s adventure is to try to escape the dragon’s lair as it playfully stalks her. While the tension is high I wish they had drawn out some scenes a bit to give a greater sense of loneliness similar to “Castaway” with Tom Hanks. Her attempts to escape seemed too quick at times and could have added a bit more tension. This movie is definitely one to watch and enjoy with great acting and action as well as an ending that is satisfying and consistent with the theme of the movie. You still get the ending with a “They lived happily ever after” without feeling like you got taught a lesson or cheated by the story.