The Distressing Thing about 'Damsel'

Millie Bobby Brown is too young to be a cast away.

Damsel arrives on Netflix tomorrow, and it’s the latest work in the successful partnership between the streamer and their Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown. At the young age of 20, Brown has co-founded a production company where she selects, develops, and stars in various projects. The first two were the Enola Holmes movies, based on the books of the same name starring Brown as the eponymous little sister of Sherlock. Damsel is an original feature that aims to turn the fantasy genre on its head by having the distressed damsel Elodie (Brown) save herself from a fire-breathing dragon.

Thematically, that’s a great message for young women, and you can see why the script would appeal to Brown. Unfortunately, the execution of the script strips away character conflict so that the triumph is all external. It’s a movie that’s foremost about the plot—how will Elodie get out of the abyss and avoid the dragon—rather than what that plot means for its main character. It is Die Hard except John McClane doesn’t have any personal stakes beyond saving his own life. It’s Cast Away or Gravity except the main character is too young to carry any regrets.

Millie Bobby Brown as Elodie in Damsel | Image via Netflix