Elodie is the eldest daughter of a humble, struggling noble household. Her father Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone) and stepmother (Angela Basset) are elated to be taught that she’s been chosen to marry the good-looking prince Henry (Nick Robinson) on the request of his mom Queen Isabelle (Robin Wright). Her household is dropped at their lovely kingdom on a secluded island, dazzling Elodie’s youthful sister Floria (Brooke Carter) with their riches. As Elodie prepares to marry Henry, she learns of the dominion’s darkish historical past, whereupon colonizing the island, a fire-breathing dragon ascended upon the brand new village and a king sacrificed his three daughters for a harmonious coexistence.
Now, to honor that sacrifice, the royal household makes a blood pact with younger girls and provides them as much as the dragon with each new era. The casting of Robin Wright because the evil queen is a little bit of brilliantly twisted meta-casting as a result of the kindhearted Princess Buttercup of “The Princess and the Bride” fame is nowhere to be discovered, and he or she revels in her scrumptious villainy.
And but that is the knowledge one may glean from the trailer … and likewise the primary half-hour of the movie.
Pacing is undoubtedly the best weak point in “Damsel,” a movie that takes too lengthy to get began when everybody watching already is aware of the place issues are heading. When coping with fairytale tales, even when subverting them, there’s an inherent information baked into the audiences watching at residence. That is the princess vs. the dragon story equal of individuals in zombie motion pictures performing confused about what to do for the primary half hour whereas everybody watching screams “SHOOT THEM IN THE HEAD” on the display screen. Fortuitously, when Elodie is lastly tossed into the dragon’s pit, “Damsel” kicks issues into gear and Millie Bobby Brown basically carries the remainder of the movie on her personal. It could make for a improbable double characteristic with the Joey King-starring Hulu movie “The Princess,” which I believe was a motivating issue for giving “Damsel” the inexperienced mild within the first place.