Despite high views on the film, ‘Damsel’ recieved mediocre reviews from critics. IMDb rated the film a 6.1/10. Infographic by Angie Wiebe.
A damsel in distress. A handsome prince in shining armour. A fire-breathing dragon. Netflix’s movie Damsel sounds like a typical fairytale, but the movie does have many twists. The premise of the movie is a young woman, Princess Elodie, who agrees to marry a prince from a far away country. She discovers the marriage is a trap and is thrown into a cave with a dragon, where she tries to survive and escape. Damsel was released in March after being postponed due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the film was originally supposed to be released in October of 2023.
After the trailer was released for the film back in February, viewers shared their opinions that they now knew what happened in the entire movie, without even seeing it. Alina Neufeld watched the trailer and movie and said though they didn’t hide what type of movie it was, she still found it enjoyable to watch. It wasn’t her normal genre of film, but she found it a cool twist on the classic fairytale that the movie portrayed.
Another individual who watched the film, Jorge Osorio, says he was able to guess how the entire movie would pan out in the first 10 minutes, much like the trailer already shows, but he still found it to be entertaining.
“I felt like it was a good movie overall. There were some parts that I felt didn’t help the plot of the move but if you don’t pay attention to them, it’s still a good watch,” says Osorio.
The film re-imagined fairytale aspects and put a dark twist on the story and some characters, while portraying them in both good and bad light.
The cinematography was also an element that played an important role. There was more mixed thoughts on the cinematography of the film and how well CGI was used.
“I thought it was a fun, well-made film that diverts the damsel in distress stereotype, while still creating an interesting character to watch and not making her entire personality the fact that she’s not a damsel in distress,” says Neufeld.
While the plot of Damsel may not be for everyone, it’s a classically-made movie with an independent female lead who discovers herself and sets off a new path for her life.
