Once upon a time , Netflixseemed actively interested in notice and elevating its own movie stars , but the streaming service ’s efforts to do so mostly test to be in vain . The actor that its original shows and movies hook up six and seven days ago have since either strike away from the platform or fallen back into obscureness . The only performer who has n’t is Millie Bobby Brown , who achieved breakout winner whenStranger Thingspremiered back in 2016 and has spend most of the intervening year develop star vehicles for herselfatNetflix .
Brown ’s on-going partnership with the streaming service has so far produced two entertaining , low - stakes YA mysteries inEnola HolmesandEnola Holmes 2 , and now the feminist fancy adventureDamsel . The unexampled film calculate better than a heap of the high - budget Netflix originals that are made these days , and , like Brown ’s first two Enola Holmes efforts , it does n’t seem designed to leave you particularly disappointed or jubilant . It ’s a fine motion-picture show that make it clear , for undecomposed and worse , just how well Brown understands the sort of lightweight fare that Netflix is becoming more and more affiliate with .
The worst thing that can be said aboutDamselis that it takes itself too severely . The film ’s script , compose by Dan Mazeau , sets out to subvert the damozel - in - distress cliché that originated in the very phantasy romanticism that its first act simulate surprisingly well . Damselmakes its intentions to do so straight off clear with an opening art object of narration in which Brown promises , “ There are many stories of chivalry where the heroic knight save the damosel in hurt … This isnotone of them . ” It ’s the sort of cheesy line that you could sanely expect to be follow by a punchline , butDamselisn’t concerned in poking as much fun at itself as it should .
That is n’t the only cringe - worthy bit of dialog that Brown is forced to put her whole back into , but the actress ’ sheer committedness to her role make it easy to look past some of her most unfortunate lines . TheStranger Thingsstar leads the film as Elodie , a princess from a coarse medieval land whose home is seemingly rescued from aggregative starvation and poverty when her father , Lord Bayford ( a shockingly sincere Ray Winstone ) , get a proposal to espouse her to Henry ( Nick Robinson ) , a prince from a rich island kingdom . For much of its first half - hour , Damselfollows Elodie as a seemingly idyllic hereafter is prepared for her by her father , Henry , and the latter ’s icy female parent , Queen Isabelle ( a one - note Robin Wright ) .
However , thing turn out not to be what they seem when Elodie is sacrificed and bemuse into a colliery before long after her marriage ceremony as part of a dark , generations - spanning deal between Henry ’s syndicate and the hungry dragon that has lived on their island longer than them . Alone and tormented by her flame - breathing hunter ( voiced chillingly by Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo ) , Elodie finds herself fighting for her very natural selection in a labyrinthine mountain that has long served not only as its dragon ’s home but also as a graveyard for all the princesses who have been previously sacrificed . For his part , director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo makesDamsel‘s primal setting seem at the same time cramped and cavernous , and the picture ’s intelligibly artificial , handmade interior sets only impart it even more of a storybook - esque charm .
Beyond the centre subversion of its prince - and - princess plot , Damselnever render any truly shameful narrative twists . The complete arc of its story will be immediately open to consecrate illusion fan and casual viewers likewise , but that does n’t quit the film from earn the most out of many of its big moments . The movie dedicates its full second and third acts to Elodie ’s prolonged battle with both her mountain prison house and the relentless dragon that hunts her . Her fight is punctuated by discoveries , near - death encounters , and mistaken climaxes that are so in effect staged and step that they ’ll keep you on the edge of your seat for nigh 60 minutes unbowed .
It ’s a credit to Brown just how quicklyDamselconvinces you of Elodie ’s nightmarish , horror movie - esque post . The untried actress has never been one to work her room through a scene half - heartedly , butDamselranks unwaveringly as her most physically taxing labor to particular date . Despite that fact , Brown throw herself fully into every set piece she ’s asked to perform , whether it be something as simple as climbing up a steep stone sliding board or swinging a sword at a Draco that is 10 sentence her size . The actress make you feel every scratch and injure that Elodie endures over the line of her sweaty , frequently terrifying journeying .
Damsel‘s ego - serious feel and full - throated vocalizations of its already clear feminist themes may make illusion fans foresightful for a more lighthearted , joyous romp like last year’sDungeons & Dragons : Honor Among Thieves , but the Netflix film wo n’t make them desire to switch to a different cyclosis service , either . It ’s an earnestly made dangerous undertaking that , while forgettable , does n’t take the clock time and aid of its viewers for granted . There ’s a real effort on video display in nearly every one of its scenery , and the complete absence seizure of acedia throughout it makes it good than most of the blockbusters Netflix has grow in late years .
Whether Brown will ever rise above the low heights offered by the streaming service that made her a superstar remain to be examine , butDamselproves that she bed how to play the Netflix game better than almost anyone . The film wo n’t fall up anyone ’s best - of - the - year list , but its whirl on a traditional fairytale is both sweet and harbour enough to keep you constantly engaged and quick to see what awaits on its next page .
Damselis stream now on Netflix .
