Netflix’s latest Hollywood movie Damsel released on 8 March 2024 and since its release, it has been doing its rounds on every screen around the world. Set in a medieval time in Europe, Netflix’s Damsel as promised, focused on anti ‘The Damsel in Distress’ theory and served pretty well with an engaging CGI work and a twisted plot for the modern world where misogyny, feminism and equality are the favorite words.
Millie Bobby Brown cast as the main protagonist, our Damsel has been experiencing stardom since her hit web series Stranger Things and Enola Holmes on Netflix. Her performance in the latter series is critically applauded and consequentially the hopes were higher in Netflix’s latest release – Damsel. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directed Damsel and it is bankrolled by Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Chris Castaldi. The green screen work, CGI has made the movie run and stumble on inches of plot cracks and then again, we witness it catching itself before falling completely. The plot is quite predictable and shows determination etched on its face. Millie Bobby Brown’s inability to portray the Ready or Not’s bride’s titanium image and Angela Bassett’s (with great potential) minuscule scope role couldn’t save the hacky script.
Plot Of Netflix’s Damsel Movie – Medieval Fantasy Tale
In the dark fantasy world of Damsel, Princess Elodie (played by Millie Bobby Brown) thinks she’s getting a happily ever after. A handsome prince proposes, and she, the dutiful damsel, accepts. But there’s a wicked twist to this fairytale.
Elodie soon discovers she’s not marrying for love; she’s being offered as a sacrifice! The royal family is in deep debt to a fire-breathing dragon, and Elodie is the unfortunate payback.
Thrown into a dark chasm, fear turns to fight in Elodie’s eyes. This princess is no damsel in distress. She’s armed with nothing but her wits and maybe a hidden talent or two (we’re not spoiling that!).
The dragon is a terrifying beast with her own tragic story, but Elodie’s not going down without a fight. She needs to outsmart this alleged monster and find a way to escape. Is there a hidden weakness? Can she find a secret passage? Can she pet her? (I always ask this question whenever I see a dragon movie.)
The Damsel movie plot follows Elodie’s desperate struggle for survival and unknotting the tragic past life of the dragon and why she abhors the kingdom. Until the three-fourth of the movie, the audience wondered – Will she become another dragon snack, or will she rewrite the ending of her own story?
Frailty, Thy Name Is Woman! Or Is It Man!?
Damsel isn’t your typical princess tale. It’s a thrilling adventure with a heroine who proves she’s braver than any prince and definitely, more resourceful than a fire-breathing dragon!
Every single character has a tinge of classic fairytale characters. For instance, Queen Isabelle reminds me of the Evil Queen from Snow White, Prince Charming from Sleeping Beauty (Shakespearean Drama), and the old King from the first scene of Damsel reminds me of the old dumb King in Maleficent. Unlike all other characters, Damsel’s or Princess Elodie’s character brought a new flavour to this fairy or fiery tale.
Our environment, culture, people we hang around with, our little talks, situations, etc. make us what we are. Elodie is shown as a strong lady in the first scene but instead of chopping wood, making more sensible and authoritative decisions for the kingdom along with her father would have been more intellectual. There is no need to show the testosterone drill, wearing a 10-piece princess gown in a farming field.
The movie Damsel underlined the dire need for female empowerment, a topic that runs quite true throughout the whole movie. The film shows how marriage has historically been portrayed as equivalent to human sacrifice, with a defenceless young woman at the mercy of her new family. The fictional character of Oscar-nominated Angela Bassett, who excels in the role of Elodie’s stepmother – Lady Bayford. Surprise – she is no wicked stepmother, like 99% of the times we get to see her. Lady Bayford is the only person who notices anything is wrong with the royal family and shows great concern for Elodie and her younger sister, which deviates from the typical evil stepmother stereotype in the movies and stories. She is the only one who kept the door open for Elodie to break this shoddy marriage and come back even though she has a frail husband and ministers.
One of the most important yet dumbest characters shown in Damsel is King Roderick (husband of evil queen Isabelle). Although it is his ancestor’s mess, still it is the other families’ women who have to pay the cost. Strange, generations passed yet no one searched for or questioned about their missing daughters!
Leading the gruesome custom of passing the maidens as mere bait, Queen Isabelle guides her feeble son—who is obviously troubled by guilt. Over numerous generations, the female dragon has taken her anger and sorrow out on naive young ladies.
Perhaps the saying is right – “Women are the prime watchdogs of Patriarchy.”
Just an observer
We Need More Damsels With More Potential Narrative.
Netflix’s Damsel has potential, but creative and technical decisions and innate flaws in the screenplay pulled it down. As CGI dominates most of Netflix’s Damsel, the movie gives the impression that every environment was created by an odd AI. There aren’t many interesting maze pieces inside the caves themselves, and it felt repetitive. The inside cave tunnels could have been better, challenging, gripping and more engaging.
There are so many stances when the audience could feel that the Dragon could easily finish the girl by wheezing. But it never happens. Based on the logline, the director had to wait to prove she was normal Damsel.
The dragon took generations and centuries to learn that whatever she was doing was not only wrong but stupid.
Did you notice Elodie’s drawing of the anatomy of the heart? Either she has seen a huge amount of bloodshed or she has some natural killer instincts.
The Alternate Ending of Netflix’s Damsel Got Kicked Out At The End
Interestingly, Carter discussed the film and the alterations made to the script while it was in production in a recent interview with The Direct. So, Netflix’s Damsel could have a different ending and this could have steered it to a different direction.
Brooke Carter played the role of Floria, Elodie’s younger sister in Netflix’s Damsel revealed that a different ending had been planned for the movie in which Elodie chose to travel alone rather than reunited with her family.
Carter said, “We filmed two different endings for the film. And I feel like it would be great for them to see the other ending that we filmed, just because it could start like a whole different vibe about what’s going to happen in the future… So, one was where Elodie stayed with us, and one was where Elodie left.”
She continued, “There were a lot of changes. I think we changed quite a bit of it. I mean, the storyline from the start to the middle stayed the same. The ending changed quite a lot. A lot of lines were cut, and a lot of lines were added. So when we were doing the reshoots, there were quite a lot of scenes that they’d swapped out for other scenes.”
Should I Watch Netflix’s Damsel?
Netflix latest movie Damsel is a nice quick watch if you love fantasy adventures and a very good fairy tale to read. Though it missed a few points due to meh CGI work and uninspiring narrative, Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel sets the table with a potential story to pick on Friday.
Till then, Millie Bobby Brown’s Stranger Things Season 5 and recent engagement with Jake Bongiovi are keeping her team enough busy.
Leave feedback about this