Damsel

Damsel as a concept has a lot of things going for it. It has the acting prowess of young stars like Millie Bobby Brown and Nick Robinson, as well as veteran names such as Robin Wright and Angela Bassett in supporting roles. Its premise has a certain hook, with a fresh spin on the clichés: a young princess is forced to marry a prince from a mysterious royal family with literal skeletons in their closet, leading to her fight for survival against a fire-breathing dragon with vengeance on its mind. A feature filled with action and adventure, Damsel turns romantic arranged marriages on their head with a feminist twist, laying the foundation for what could be a very inspiring statement to women, of defying odds and breaking the mould.

The film boasts a strong female-empowerment adventure, with Brown as the lead star, facing off against aggressive in-laws, a father willing to sacrifice her for the sake of his people, and of course, a gigantic creature refusing to let her go. Her overall presentation is fierce – an exemplary model for any young girls looking for an alternative to the overdone damsel-in-distress heroine featured in most fairytale stories. Still, there’s a fragility to her performance that invokes sympathy for all the challenges Elodie faces.

That being said, the writing itself for her character is quite underdeveloped. Before being sacrificed, there’s little the audience knows about her personality-wise, which renders her story arc less compelling. There’s also something unnatural about the flow of dialogue, which is expository and repetitive, with the narrative explained through conversation, reading like storybook narration.

There’s a role-playing game element to Damsel that’s enjoyable to follow. It’s the dungeon crawl with Elodie as she tries to find her way out of the dragon’s lair, the exotic-looking world and animals with special properties, the twists and turns and the epic ending. These all feel like things that belong in a game like Tales of Berseria. It helps that the soundtrack is this fantastic mix of modern and classic that drums up the intensity of the chase and fight scenes.

However, the computer-generated graphics can be inconsistent. In parts, the visuals are aesthetically pleasing and light up the dreary atmosphere of the underground cave Elodie is stuck in, adding further to the fantasy world of RPGs. But then other times, especially the vibrant scenes outside, look synthetic and underwhelming.

An age-old story of how men’s violent antics lead to women paying for it, Damsel at its core has a very empowering message carried by Brown’s charming performance. Anyone looking for a quick burst of energy and inspiration, especially young girls raring to take on the world, can easily find it after watching this picture, especially with an ending like that.

Mae Trumata

Damsel is released on Netflix on 8^th March 2024.

Watch the trailer for Damsel here: