Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown looks set to star as yet another big-time heroine. This time, it's Netflix movie Damsel, which promises to flip the usual fairytale narrative on its head with a serious feminist edge.
The film will draw on the sacrifices women make for wider society and the protagonist Elodie's (played by Millie) journey to save herself.
Here's everything we know so far about Damsel.
What is Damsel about?
The Netflix plot synopsis reads as follows: “A young woman agrees to marry a handsome prince – only to discover it was all a trap. She is thrown into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon and must rely solely on her wits and will to survive.”
According to the synopsis of the Damsel novel – which is based on the Netflix movie script – the kingdom that Millie Bobby Brown's Elodie is in training to be princess of has been built on “dark sacrifices”, including an arrangement that goes back for centuries that involves the deaths of hundreds of women. Super super dark.
Who has joined the Damsel cast?
Joining Millie will be Nick Robinson (Jurassic World, Love, Simon) as the prince, Robin Wright (House of Cards) as Queen Isabelle, Black Panther's Angela Bassett, Ray Winstone and Nicole Joseph as Princess Victoria.
What has Millie Bobby Brown said about Damsel?
She has described her character Elodie as “a damsel who doesn’t need to be saved" She said: “She saves herself in many ways. It subverts what you expect: You’re expecting the prince to turn around and save her, and… no. Don’t wait for the prince.”
Millie also spoke about making the character her own in a new way, in comparison to her work on Stranger Things and Enola Holmes.
“I couldn’t draw from anything because I’ve personally never read a story like Damsel,” she said. “With Eleven, I’m able to draw from Mad Max. Or, with Enola Holmes, I’m able to draw a little bit from Hermione in Harry Potter. I couldn’t find anyone for Elodie and so I knew I was going to have to create her, find her along the way, find what her weaknesses and strengths are, and really create a life and a journey for her so that everybody would care about her, believe in her, and root for her.”
Damsel director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has also spoken about how lucky he felt that Millie was on board. “She’s a very charismatic, sparkling personality. She has that quality that only stars have, which is you cannot take your eyes off her," he says. "She has the ability in this movie, in such a magical way, to bring the audience into her journey and take them into that kind of dark, intense, and thrilling adventure that she’s having. She’s the heart of the movie.”
He goes on to describe how Damsel writer Dan Mazeau has done amazing work on reworking the classic princess and dragon fairytale, prioritising the strength that we see in our heroine.
“What I really loved in the script from Dan Mazeau was embracing the idea of a fantasy adventure and a princess and dragon story, but taking it into a place [where] it’s completely upside down,” Fresnadillo tells Tudum. “It was a very intense journey that I was so excited to design and to develop. At the core, this is such a beautiful story about a young woman becoming a strong, independent, and empowered adult. Elodie doesn’t have any kind of support. It’s a real survival experience.”
He agrees that Damsel will make you question what you believe about fairytales. “This is a journey that’s going to take you into a universe that you thought you knew. But we are discovering a new take on fairy tales and fantasy adventures.”
When and where is Damsel available to watch?
It will drop on Netflix on 8 March.
Is there a trailer for Damsel?
Yes, and it is all kinds of epic. You can watch it here:
