A medieval word with a highly specific (but often misused) meaning, “damsel” describes a young, unmarried lady-in-waiting. It’s also the broad title given many a helpless heroine in Hollywood movies — the proverbial “damsel in distress,” trussed to the train tracks or otherwise waiting to be saved. Elodie is neither of those in Netflix’s pleasantly disruptive fantasy story, which places “Enola Holmes” star Millie Bobby Brown squarely in control of her fate.
A revisionist fairy tale in which Elodie is hastily married off and served up as dragon chow to satisfy a generations-old curse, “Damsel” treats Elodie as an action hero for our less gender-rigid times. The loud-and-clear message, achieved by eliminating “distress” from the title (though it’s still an essential part of the formula): Passive damsels be damned! Here’s a woman who can fend for herself!
The eldest daughter of one Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone...
A revisionist fairy tale in which Elodie is hastily married off and served up as dragon chow to satisfy a generations-old curse, “Damsel” treats Elodie as an action hero for our less gender-rigid times. The loud-and-clear message, achieved by eliminating “distress” from the title (though it’s still an essential part of the formula): Passive damsels be damned! Here’s a woman who can fend for herself!
The eldest daughter of one Lord Bayford (Ray Winstone...
- 3/8/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
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