It is no longer new that actresses began to occupy greater spaces as protagonists in action films.
And if before they were the ones that the male hero had to save, now they are the ones, like Millie Bobby Brown in
Damsel
, who are scratched, fought and killed.
Elodie, played by the actress from
Stranger Things
and
Enola Holmes
, all streaming on Netflix, like this film, does not understand the rush to marry her off that her father, Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone), a patriarch in the Middle Ages who needs cash. .
There is the tip of the ball.
Dad wants, with the money he gets as a dowry, to make everyone in his region live better.
A great guy.
Elodie is her eldest daughter, she accompanies, chats and even sleeps on the bed with her younger sister Floria (Brooke Carter).
Her mother passed away, and she has a black stepmother (Angela Bassett), with whom at first it is clear that she does not get along very well.
Elodie is going to be made a princess as soon as she marries Prince Henry (Nick Robinson, Zach in
Jurassic World
), whose mother, Queen Isabelle (
Robin Wright
) is the one who holds the reins of the kingdom.
It is a marriage of convenience, and we will soon see the benefit that Queen Isabelle gets out of it, to whom Wright knows how to give that same tone with which she ruled in the last and painful season of
House of Cards
.
In the middle of a dark cavern, the "damsel" of the title must face a dragon.
Photos Netflix
Damsel is the action film for
these
less rigid gender times.
The protagonist likes riding more than being in the palace, shortly before her marriage.
The thing is that this fairy tale wedding is actually a trap (we don't advance anything that isn't seen in the trailer, which perhaps tells too much, and rather than a preview it's a summary of the film).
After the wedding, Henry takes her to “honor the ancestors,” but in truth, he must throw the living body of his wife into a cave to serve as food for a dragon, in order to satisfy a curse. of generations.
The film will take place for the most part there, in the cave, where a dragon wants to devour her.
She will not be the first, because tradition indicates that, so that the dragon does not attack the kingdom, she must be given three princesses.
Elodie and Prince Henry.
She, there, doesn't know what awaits her...
And since there was no Internet, all the damsels who arrive at the altar do not know that previous ones mysteriously disappeared.
The "damsel" Millie Bobby Brown
The title refers to "damsel", a term of medieval origin to mention a bridesmaid, a young unmarried woman, but it is clear that Elodie is not going to use that nickname, because she is brave like anyone else, she will get hurt, she will manage to even rescue his sister, all in the darkness of the cave.
It's like an eternal duel between the dragon and Elodie, who learns that the reptile - who, conveniently, speaks in English - has also been deceived.
Anyway, you have to fight for almost an hour with no help other than your sagacity to avoid being devoured by the fire.
Millie Bobby Brown is also a producer on the film, as she did before with "Enola Holmes" and its sequel.
Dan Mazeau, screenwriter of
Fast and Furious X
and
Clash of the Titans 2
, does not put much effort into building the characters.
Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo already has a project: a live-action version of
The Sword in the Stone
, Disney's animated classic.
And Millie Bobby Brown also continues to work as a producer, while she is currently filming the fifth and final season of
Stranger Things
.
She has come a long way, but she awaits, it seems, much more still.
“Damsel”
Good
Action/Fantasy.
United States, 2024. 108', SAM 13.
From:
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
Starring:
Millie Bobby Brown, Ray Winstone, Robin Wright, Angela Bassett, Brooke Carter, Nick Robinson.
Available on:
Netflix.