Film Review – DAMSEL (2024): Stunning Cinematography, Crisp Themes, & Brothers Grimm-esque Aesthetics Make Up for Contrived Feminism

Damsel Film Review

Damsel (2024) Film Review, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, written by Dan Mazeau, and starring Millie Bob Brown, Ray Winstone, Angela Bassett, Brooke Carter, Nick Robinson, Robin Wright, and Shohreh Aghdashloo.

Damsel (2024) is a dark fantasy film directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and written by Dan Mazeau. The movie stands out not for the reasons towards which its marketing campaign was geared. “This is not a fairytale,” reads the poster; yet the product is a visually appealing mix of dark elements which combine together as a fantastical story of female empowerment unfolds. One cannot help but notice how Damsel echoes Shrek (2001), Alice in Wonderland (2010), Mulan (1998), and believe it or not, Gone with the Wind (1939) in its overt challenging of the blushing bride character who meekly accepts her fate. Understanding that Fresnadillo tries a bit too hard to contribute to feel-good feminism (with the obligatory villainy of the handsome prince), Larry Fong’s cinematography and Millie Bob Brown’s acting (as the protagonist, Elodie) conveys the art involved in developing the messenger of an underwhelming message. This careful development is what rescues this story-in-distress. I would argue that the presentation of the film thankfully eclipses the narrative: From the shiny healing bugs to Elodie’s ecstatic sun-gazing to the display of princess corpses, what the audience sees on the screen stays longer than what is being said. Therefore, while the film does lack originality of premise and could have pursued its girl-power motives in a more natural fashion, its expression of the dark fantasy genre makes this a film worth watching.

Once the viewer follows Elodie down her version of the rabbit hole, in this case the dragon’s lair, the look-and-feel of her survival mechanisms absorb the audience’s attention. In the process, it is easy to forget how little time is devoted to creating characters and depth within their relationships. Indeed, more could have transpired between Elodie and her betrothed, Prince Harry (Nick Robinson) so that his betrayal would have stewed more as she climbed out of the depths of the cave. Without much to work with regarding Elodie’s present human ties, Millie Bob Brown manages to inject her character with startling maturity and verve. Again, while the film wants you to feel this energy in Elodie’s hair-shorn, muscle-my-way-up-the-wall moments, Brown helps the audience experience how Elodie’s most profound strength and wisdom are in her compassion and unwillingness to be a martyr. To note, I really liked how, when she was originally to be wed, she was going to make the best of it and was trying to connect with Henry, aware that wealth would help her travel. Here lies my comparison to Gone with the Wind: Elodie plans how being a woman can help her secure a better future for herself and her people. She is not overly demure and bland, which would have created a disaster for the film. Millie Bob Brown creates not only a woman of action, but a woman of decision.

In Grimm fashion, Damsel endeavors into the grotesque to explore the dark recesses of the human heart. However, one of the ways in which the forced feminism of the film gets in the way of appreciating its true artistic value is that Elodie’s eventual triumph obscures the reality of arranged marriages which a lot of people face. It is not every young woman, real or fictional, who can tame a dragon, burn her husband to a crisp, loot his kingdom, and sail back to her hometown with a determined smile on her face. In trying so hard not to be a happily-ever-after fairytale where a woman finds happiness through marriage, Damsel makes Elodie someone with whom it is very difficult to identify. Thankfully, what saves this damsel from the film critic’s fire-breathing dragon is the beautiful architecture and breathless delivery of this outlandish tale.

Rating: 7/10

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