Fantasy, Empowerment, Expectations : Damsel Film Review

In the cinematic journey into the realm of fantasy, where there is a conventional definition for damsel, as in "Damsel in distress" (where there is a mistress or princess in trouble and a saviour to save the day), the movie "Damsel" is the latest addition to the latest Netflix movie, which tends to redefine the definition of damsels, thereby giving them the strength and will to fight rather than waiting for a saviour.

When I first saw this movie, I was like, 'Damsel,' this movie will be almost the same as the other movies. I didn't even bother checking the thriler; maybe I might get a clue. But when I saw that it was rated highly on Netflix, I was very curious as to what happened in the movie. So, I decided to give it a try.

Damsel is a 2024 American dark fantasy film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Dan Mazeau. Millie Bobby Brown stars as Elodie, a young woman who accepts a marriage proposal only to realize that she is being used to repay a royal family's ancient debts and must now escape while surviving attacks from the dragon lurking in the chasm. The rest of the principal cast consists of Ray Winstone, Nick Robinson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Angela Bassett, and Robin Wright. Source

The movie Damsel centers around a young girl named "Elodie," the daughter of Lord Bayford, who receives a proposal from the queen to marry her son. At first, she doesn't want to accept the marriage proposal, but as the situation in the family becomes worse and on her father's urging, she accepts the proposal. They all travelled to the capital to marry off the bride.

After the marriage, they went to the mountains to perform an ancient ritual that they thought would cement their marriage, but things took an interesting turn when the bride was thrown into the dragon's lair (used as a sacrifice) due to something that happened in the past, which she had to fight her way out of. That's where the real story begins. Along the line, there're interesting turns of events as the story goes on.

As the story goes on, we're shown the real reason behind the dragon rampage, as the king originally hurt the dragon in a way that can't be repaired, and the fact that people from the royal family need to be sacrificed.

It was interesting right from the start without any dull moments, which is a good sign. Along the way, the plot became somewhat predictable, as we saw when the protagonist was able to escape the dragon in the movie. Later on, the story showed other brides married into the same who witnessed the same scene as her and how they fell, which later changed my mind about the movie being predictable.

There're not many characters in the movie, and each and every one of them acted their part well. The protagonist was pretty descent in her acting as she carried the title of Damsel on her shoulder, and her play was pretty well acted.

The CGI used in this movie is incredible and was beautifully done, which is a testament to the money spent on it. The cinematography is also great. The storyline is also interesting, which talks more about the title of the story.

Though the movie is very interesting and the plot talks about the title, it has it's own flaws. For instance, in the dragon lair, I thought the dragon was pretty formidable and strong, but it's battle with the protagonist was pretty unrealistic. Under certain conditions, the dragon should have roasted her or crushed her so many times. But it didn't. There are certain scenes where the prey is within it's grasp, but the dragon decides to go away for what?. All these made the flaw visible.

Another was that some of the dialogue was a bit cringe-worthy and looked forced. I would have loved it if there was more emotion in their conversation to make it more realistic and interesting.

Moreover, the thriller shows too much of the movie; this movies is supposed to be a fantasy, which raises the expectations of the viewers, but once some part of the movie is given,. Even if the story is interesting, it reduces the expectation of the movie, which I don't like about it.

The ending of the movie was very unpredictable. It was something I didn't expect to happen. I thought that it was just like a normal movie where the MC escapes from danger and the wrath falls on the royal family, but it was very twisted, which completely changed my view of the movie and made it more interesting.

Overall, the storyline is interesting and portrays the fantasy genre given to the movie. I particularly like the protagonist and the way they portray her as strong, and even though the thriller spoiled some parts of the movie, the cinematography and the plot are still great. With this, I give it a rating of 7/10.

This brings me to the end of my post. I hope you enjoyed reading my post. See you next time! Bye 👋.

DAMSEL | NETFLIX THRILLER

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