Millie Bobby Brown’s new Netflix movie, Damsel, has fans talking, mostly about the flick’s ending.
Was it satisfying? Absolutely. Was it confusing? A bit, but we can help clear up some of the finer points.
The dark fantasy film puts the fairy tale genre on its head, telling the tale of a princess who doesn’t have a prince to save her.
In fact, the prince is part of the problem.
But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s discuss Damsel!
‘Damsel’: What’s the Story?
Millie Bobby Brown plays Princess Elodie, a dutiful daughter and royal who is set to marry a handsome prince.
Despite warnings from her trusted stepmother, Lady Bayford, Elodie agrees to marry Henry and align their royal families.
Mere moments after they are wed, Elodie is whisked off her feet by her prince – only for him to throw her into a cave with a fire-breathing dragon! Apparently, this has to happen, as a sacrifice is required to repay an ancient debt. They have to feed the dragon three princesses once every generation to stop it from harming their kingdom.
Yikes!
But Elodie won’t go down without a fight, and much of the movie finds the princess in the bowels of the monster’s lair, fighting to get herself to freedom.
Millie Bobby Brown’s ‘Damsel’ Movie Ending, Explained
While this movie puts a spin on the classic fairytale, it does have a happy ending – so to speak.
Elodie does make it out of the cave, with her father’s help, though he dies in the pursuit.
Once out of the lair, her younger sister becomes the new item on the menu, with Queen Isabelle, played by Robin Wright, forcing Floria to marry the prince to meet Elodie’s fate for her.
Elodie fights the dragon to the almost death. When it’s time to deliver the final blow, Elodie reveals the truth to the dragon about the royal family, and the deal made years ago.
See, the dragon only wants to kill princesses of Queen Isabelle’s royal family because her ancestors had intruded into the dragon’s lair long ago and slayed her only three children in cold blood.
As penance, the king promised to give the dragon three princesses from his own family, not just right then and there, but every generation going forward, if she agreed to leave the kingdom alone.
But the family hasn’t been living up to the deal. The princesses being sacrificed are all married into the fold; they are not Isabelle’s own relatives. To trick the dragon, a blood ritual is peformed after the marriage — right before they’re dumped into the cave.
Armed with this new information, the dragon and Elodie become allies and leave to the cave to exact their revenge.
The dragon burns down the whole castle, killing Queen Isabelle and Prince Henry for their sins. With the evil royal family gone, Elodie heads home with Floria, her stepmom Lady Bayford, played by Angela Bassett, and yes, the dragon, to help rebuild their own kingdom.
Like we would expect anything less from Eleven! C’mon!