What’s a girl to do when the fairytale she was promised turns out to be a nightmare? Why, switch the genre to action fantasy and become her own knight in shining armor, of course. Starring Millie Bobby Brown, this Netflix movie is not a romance. Damsel takes the darker aspects of fairytales and plays into them, revealing the villainy of the royals and leaving the protagonist to fight and claw her way to victory.
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who previously directed 28 Weeks Later, and written by Dan Mazeau, Damsel is a tale about trusting in your own strength to get the fate you wish for. Elodie (Millie Bobby Brown) struggles to survive ancient royal rituals and an enraged dragon, then seeks out vengeance on those who hurt her and her family. As poignant as a Netflix fantasy movie can be, Damsel is nonetheless a refreshing rework of tired and outdated tropes. And, fair warning, there will be spoilers throughout this review, though the trailers for the film also give most of the plot away as well.
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Plot
Damsel is about Elodie, the teenage eldest daughter of the impoverished Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone). When Elodie is offered a marriage to Prince Henry of Aurea (Nick Robinson), she agrees in order to save her family and her people from starvation. The prince seems kind and charming and Elodie begins to hope that her life in Aurea will be comfortable and pleasant. Elodie’s stepmother (Angela Bassett), however, is skeptical of Aurea’s Queen Isabella (Robin Wright) and her intentions with this marriage. Though Elodie listens to her stepmother’s concerns, she ultimately goes through with the marriage because so many people are relying on her.
After the wedding, Elodie travels with the prince to a cave in the mountains where they will perform an ancient ceremony. At the cave, Queen Isabella and a procession of nobles wait. They extol the honor and importance of the sacrifice Elodie is making. Once Elodie and Henry share blood in this ritual and Elodie becomes “of royal blood,” Henry then carries Elodie over to the side of a large chasm and tosses her in. Elodie has become a literal sacrifice to a fire-breathing dragon who lives in the caves.
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Centuries ago, the Aurean king made a deal with the dragon to sacrifice three princesses every generation in exchange for his life. At the bottom of the chasm, Elodie finds evidence of many previous girls sacrificed. The dragon, voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, tells Elodie that she likes to hunt her prey and so will not kill her too quickly. Elodie finds a way to survive her burns and uses her quick-thinking and skills learned from hunting and laboring in her poor land. She finds a cavern that the dragon cannot reach filled with the names of previous sacrifices carved into the walls.
Lord Bayford, wracked with guilt for sacrificing his daughter, comes with a small number of men to rescue Elodie. His sacrifice allows Elodie time to escape, but Queen Isabella learns of this and takes Elodie’s sister Floria (Brooke Carter) as a replacement. To save her sister, Elodie returns to the caves and learns that the dragon is merely taking revenge for the ancient Aurean king killing her three hatchlings. Elodie fights the dragon and is able to convince her that Aurea has tricked her for generations, sacrificing random girls instead of the royal bloodline. So, Elodie and the dragon ally with each other to bring Aurea to destruction.
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Review
Just as most action movies don’t have a lot of plot or introspection, Damsel is more about entertainment. And, I was entertained. This was a fairytale that subverts tropes and questions the messed up backstories for how a damsel is put into distress. I enjoyed the thrills and seeing justice play out against the villains. One of my favorite scenes was right before Prince Henry is blasted with dragon fire and he just resigns himself to his fate. I worried there would be a redemption arc for him and that he and Elodie might end up together, but thankfully this was not the case. Henry knew what he and his family were doing was evil and he accepted his punishment in the end.
I also loved Robin Wright as Queen Isabella. She was so cold and sinister that you couldn’t help but get chills whenever she came on-screen. A complete twist from her famous portrayal as Buttercup in The Princess Bride, it was fun to see her acting range and to hate her as a true villainess.
Angela Bassett as Elodie’s stepmother was also brilliant. I loved how much maternal love flowed from her for these two girls who are not blood-related to her. Overall, seeing Lady Bayford love and protect her stepdaughters was by far the best of the subverted fairytale tropes. No more evil stepmothers. And, of course, Millie Bobby Brown is exceptionally talented and does a great job of projecting her emotions to her audience. The cast was very well-chosen and worked hard to make the story feel fresh and unique.
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There were a few things that made no sense, such as the sacrificing of three girls every generation just went unnoticed for generations. The prince would have three weddings in a matter of days, all three brides disappear the same day as their wedding, and there were never even rumors about anything suspicious happening in Aurea? This went on for hundreds of years and no one slipped up and told anybody else? Aurea either has extremely loyal subjects, or they have quietly assassinated a lot more than just those girls.
Also, I don’t know how the scent of royal blood works, but I do not understand how the dragon could be fooled by merely sharing a handshake with two open cuts. Wouldn’t the smell be extremely faint? Or that after a couple of days, the scent hasn’t faded? It just doesn’t seem super plausible. And, when Elodie’s father shows up, wouldn’t the dragon wonder why he doesn’t smell of royal blood if his daughter does? These things just didn’t quite add up.
With the ending, I may just be petty, but it was so satisfying watching the royals and nobles get scorched by the dragon. After centuries of manipulating, exploiting, and killing girls, it was a rightful end to the royal lineage of Aurea. And seeing Elodie with her sister and stepmother, returning to their land with a ship loaded with supplies and a dragon flying at her side was a happily-ever-after I didn’t know I needed.
If you’re looking for a fun action fantasy on Netflix, or if you need more Millie Bobby Brown while you wait for season 5 of Stranger Things, then I would recommend Damsel. If you are hoping for Oscar-worthy fantasy world-building and complex plotlines, maybe check elsewhere. But, for a straight-to-streaming movie, I found this story about a girl and her dragon pleasant and satisfying. Damsel was released on Netflix on March 8, 2024 and is streaming now.
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