Viewers have watched British actor Millie Bobby Brown grow up on Netflix, from her debut in the hit series “Stranger Things” at age 12, to “Enola Holmes” in 2020, to her most recent credit as the lead in “Damsel,” released March 8.
The medieval fantasy movie attempts to flip the tired damsel-in-distress trope on its head. Brown played Elodie, a princess married off to distant Prince Henry to save her country. Faced with the rather unique wedding traditions of Henry’s family, Elodie is then thrown into a fiery pit with a dragon.
At first, the movie reminded me of “Ready or Not,” a 2019 horror-comedy in which the female lead marries into a rich family and later must fight for her life. The only difference between the two is the medieval setting in “Damsel,” otherwise it is a carbon copy of versions of the trope seen before.
The so-called feminist narrative in “Damsel” began to feel stale during its runtime. The “girl boss” film is no longer revolutionary in concept. Netflix’s take on the genre neglected to contribute anything a feminist philosopher would consider new.
While this is the movie’s most prominent flaw, it is just one of many throughout the movie; another is its pacing.
The incorporation of a dragon’s eventual place in the plot is revealed within the first minute of the movie, which defeats the purpose of the plot twist later on. Because of this premature introduction, the rest of the movie is ultimately predictable.
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Similarly, there are no real stakes in this movie — mostly due to the twist reveal. The whole time watching the movie you are just waiting for Elodie to meet the dragon, and, when she does, she defeats the dragon in less than five minutes. So, what was the point of the dragon?
Further, the obstacles she faces are something more akin to quests, but these feats are repetitive. Brown’s character was a highlight of the movie, battling the writing that reduces her to a one-dimensional “I’m not like other girls” character type.
“Damsel” is now streaming on Netflix.