DAMSEL
A resourceful princess, a scary dragon, and a family worth fighting for.
Should You Watch It?
Here's the decision. This is an exciting, well-made fantasy adventure with a heart in the right place: it says, again and again, that family matters more than wealth and duty. Millie Bobby Brown carries the whole thing, and the scenes of a princess trying to outlast a fire-breathing dragon and her ruthless mother-in-law are genuinely gripping.
It's also a movie with real menace. The dragon is scary. There's strong and light violence — people burned, a woman thrown into a chasm, a leg wound bound with strips of dress. And the story turns on a dark premise: a young woman escaping a plot to make her a sacrificial lamb. There are light feminist notes, too, though the film never tips into anything hostile toward men.
So: if you have teens or older children who can weather a frightening dragon and some peril, this is a heartwarming, well-crafted watch. For younger or sensitive kids, hold off. That's our answer.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESPrincess Elodie's kingdom is starving. To save her people, her father and stepmother marry her off to Prince Henry of a wealthy island realm — a match meant to secure the family's fortunes.
Devoted to her duty, Elodie travels south with her parents and younger sister, meets her intended, and goes through with the wedding. But afterward, she's taken to a mountain overlooking the castle for a secret ceremony — and thrown into a deep chasm. She survives the fall, and in the dark below she learns she is only the latest princess offered up to something that lives in the heart of the mountain. And that's all we'll give away.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars, and here's what earns them. The peril is the point, and the film delivers it beautifully — the scenes of Elodie surviving the dragon and her mother-in-law's devious machinations are exciting, compelling, and well-crafted. This is fantasy adventure done with real skill.
Millie Bobby Brown, the star of Netflix's ENOLA HOLMES mysteries, does another wonderful job, and the movie is smart to keep her at the center. The supporting characters are less developed by comparison — that's the one soft spot — but the touching scenes between Elodie and her father, stepmother, and younger sister give the movie a beating heart to go with its thrills. The result is a genuinely entertaining fantasy for mature audiences.
The Worldview
Underneath the dragon and the peril, this is a warmly moral, pro-family story. Elodie and her family begin by honoring duty — but they discover something truer: family matters more. Her father and stepmother come to see that family is worth more than wealth and amassing riches, and the movie doesn't leave that lesson abstract. It gives us repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation, and a heartfelt scene of forgiveness at its center. When Elodie's kindhearted stepmother learns she's still alive, she says, "Thank God" — and the film ties images of light to its themes of healing.
The film also draws a sharp moral line. The evil mother-in-law and her kingdom, who deceive and sacrifice the innocent for their own gain, are punished for their greed and injustice. That's the biblical shape of things: the proud brought low, the humble lifted.
There are light feminist elements here. The story tells you up front that this isn't about a knight rescuing a damsel — Elodie saves herself through determination and intelligence. But it never curdles into the notion that men are bad and women are good. The villain is also a determined woman, and a corrupt one; Elodie's flawed father has his own heroic moments. The contrast the film cares about is between a greedy, deceitful family and a loving one.
At its heart is a girl marked for sacrifice who refuses to die quietly — and a longing for a home and family worth saving. Scripture knows that longing, and it knows a greater rescue still: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
Strong moral, pro-family worldview with some redemptive scenes of repentance, forgiveness and reconciliation, plus the movie’s kindhearted stepmother says, “Thank God,” when she learns her stepdaughter is still alive, and images of light are associated with the movie’s themes of healing and reconciliation, but there are some light feminist themes revolving around a heroine who saves herself and doesn’t need a knight in shining armor to do it
Foul Language
One “d” obscenity
Violence
Strong and light violence includes soldiers are burned in the fiery breath of a dragon, a knife is used to cut the palms of two hands in a blood oath union (some blood is shown), a woman is thrown and falls down into a deep chasm suffering many scrapes and a leg wound, birds are shown being burned in a dragon’s breath, a woman is seen dead, a woman’s leg is shown burned on the surface (burned flesh is seen and screams of pain are heard), the names of many young women are carved on a cave wall indicating how many have been sacrificed to the dragon, a burned skeleton is shown briefly, young woman outruns and hides from a dragon’s fiery breath, young woman climbs a cliff of sharp crystal rocks using an abandoned crown, woman uses a knife to stop herself from falling down a chasm some men are shown smashed by a dragon’s paw, a man is impaled by a dragon’s claw in the chest (some blood is shown), a young woman fights a dragon who’s stabbed in the eye with blood coming out and burned
Sex
No sex scenes or sexual immorality (a young couple kisses briefly during a brief wedding scene
Nudity
No nudity
Alcohol Use
No alcohol use
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
No smoking or drugs;
Miscellaneous Immorality
A woman calls on her dead mother for help, but there is no ghost or supernatural communication, a royal family running an island kingdom uses deception to regularly sacrifice people to a dragon, and the heroine’s father has a greedy motive but repents.
Talk About It
Four questions for the couch, the commute, or the couple bingeing it together.
Elodie's family starts out prizing duty and wealth, then learns that family matters more. Where do we let money or status quietly outrank the people we love — and how does Scripture reorder those priorities?
Matthew 6:19–21 · 1 Timothy 6:9–10The movie gives us repentance, forgiveness, and a heartfelt scene of reconciliation. Elodie's father is greedy but repents. What's the difference between simply feeling sorry and truly turning around?
2 Corinthians 7:10 · Luke 15:20–24The villainous queen and her kingdom are punished for their greed and injustice, while the kindhearted family is spared. How does the Bible describe God's response to the proud and the oppressor?
Proverbs 11:2 · James 5:1–6Elodie refuses to be a helpless victim and fights to survive. When does courage and resourcefulness honor God — and where do we still need to trust Him rather than only ourselves?
Joshua 1:9 · Proverbs 3:5–6The Final Word
This one's a happy surprise: a well-crafted, exciting fantasy that says family is worth more than gold and gives you forgiveness, courage, and a stepmother who thanks God. Just mind the scary dragon and the peril for your youngest ones. So here's our answer, the same one we opened with: worth the trip — ages 10 and up.
