Damsel

I tend to pay little attention to trending movies as sometimes it turns out to be bad, leading me to questions like who the fudge praised this? And then I comfort myself with the thought that perhaps aliens did because humans would never. But despite the hype around Netflix's ‘Damsel’ I paid attention to it, especially after seeing on the poster a stunning female lead.

The hype around this movie is definitely not fueled by aliens. I concur, it's a brilliant film. I mean look at Millie Bobby, she ate her role and left no crumbs.

There's something always exciting whenever I watch a film that portrays the medieval period. I mean those costumes taking me back in time, revealing the way of people back then, who would literally give up their lives for the sake of the kingdom. In our world today, pfft, no one would ever give up their dream or life for the benefit of any subject instead the reverse is the case.

After receiving a proposal from Queen Anabelle of Aurea, Elodie, the daughter of Lord Bayford, is compelled by her father to marry Prince Henry of Aurea. Elodie accepts the proposal which in turn will help her impoverished people.

After the marriage is carried out and her father, step mother and sister goes back home, she is requested to carry out a ritual which according to the prince is paying tribute to the ancestors.

Unbeknownst to Elodie, she is the price of a pact that was made by the king of Aurea to the dragon that lives in the cave below the mountains. The King of Aurea had entered a pact with a dragon after killing three of its offspring to give three of his daughters to it for the sake of peace between the dragon and his kingdom. Truly an eye for an eye.

To avoid sacrificing their own royal blood, the Queen made the women married to Henry take a blood oath that automatically gave them royal blood and after that is done, they are thrown into the chasm that leads to the dragon's lair.

After being thrown into the dragon's lair, Elodie has to fight for her survival as it was evident that no innocent daughter, who was thrown in the lair made it out alive.

As gripping as this film is, there is a flaw of the lead character and of course that makes it stand out because the lead character/protagonist doesn't have to be a perfect human even when fantasy is involved. The flaw I noticed is in where Elodie declines to heed to her step mother's warning after she had warned her to not go on with the wedding as she sensed something was off about the whole wedding arrangement.

I believe she refused to heed because of her loyalty to her people and probably to lead a good example to her little sister who looked up to her.

Released on March 8th, 2024, the director of this film, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, did an excellent job, and of course the writer do too as the storyline is compelling and really engaging.

If you're a fan of dark fantasies and medieval settings, you should see ‘Damsel.’

Images are screenshots.