‘Saving herself is the main idea in this movie’
◆ Rachael Davis talks to star Millie Bobby Brown and director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo about Netflix’s action-packed, subversive fairytale Damsel
We’re all familiar with the concept of the damsel in distress, the beautiful young woman in peril anxiously awaiting the arrival of a handsome prince to rescue her with true love’s first kiss.
It’s the premise behind many a fairytale, and while these fantastical stories can make wonderful escapism, the counter-argument stands that they send a message to girls that they’re not capable of being their own advocates, that they’re not strong enough to save themselves.
In new Netflix film Damsel, however, we’re presented with a new kind of fairytale heroine – one who must become her own knight in shining armour.
We meet Elodie, played by Stranger Things and Enola Holmes star Millie Bobby Brown, as a young noblewoman travelling to a far-away kingdom to marry a handsome prince. Everything seems wonderful – he lives in a gorgeous palace with riches abound – but it soon transpires that Elodie is to be a sacrifice, given up to a firebreathing dragon to repay an ancient debt.
She’s thrown into the dragon’s lair, an intricate series of caves nestled amongst remote mountains, and realises that if she wants to escape with her life, she’ll have to find her own way out. There will be no Prince Charming coming to save her.
“I think typical fairytales are completely fine, and the odd being saved by the prince might be nice!” says Brown, 20. “But in this one, I just wanted to show the possibility of it … I just don’t think that those stories have been put out there.
“The option of it, I think, is nice for young girls to know. Growing up, those are the stories I was told: that the princess was in distress, and then the prince comes down and saves her, and they live happily ever after … those are great stories to tell, because when you’re younger, it helps you escape.
“But I just want (girls) to know that that is an option, that you’re capable of saving yourself. I think that’s what Damsel does, in a very real and gritty way.”
With Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, horror director of 28 Weeks Later and Intruders, at the helm, it’s clear why Damsel leans into some of the darker elements of the fantasy genre.
While it feels like a fairytale in many ways – the stunning settings, beautiful castles and promise of romance, at least initially – as the plot develops and Elodie’s peril grows, the storytelling becomes more visceral, more thrilling.
“It’s a fantasy movie, for sure, but there are horror and thriller elements in it as well,” says Spanish director Fresnadillo, 56.
“I was so keen to add those flavours into the story because in some ways, it’s part of my DNA as a filmmaker, and also because I believe that this story contains almost like a thriller
inside, the way that she’s discovering the shadows in this kingdom, and how things are turning into a very dark place.
“It’s something that we play (with) from the beginning of the story, and I think the suspense is essential for this, to keep the audience at the edge of their seats.”
A story of a young woman trapped in a cave with a firebreathing dragon naturally leads to some truly thrilling action sequences. Elodie is resourceful, using her multilayered wedding gown as something of a Swiss army knife, tearing it apart and using its components to get her out of various binds.
We watch as she hurtles down tunnels, scales walls, and faces the beast head
on, and while Brown is no stranger to intense, physical roles, she says this one “proved to be quite challenging”.
“I had never thrown myself into a role, theoretically and physically, quite like this before,” Brown says.
“There’s something about playing a victim … hiding from a dragon for a very long period of time was quite challenging, because you can’t really prepare for that, because you can’t prepare to be hurt. You have to be able to feel it in the moment, just kind of go on instinct.
“So it was quite challenging. It really pushed me to new levels I didn’t really think I was capable of.”
As she explored Elodie, a character she describes as “layered and complex”, Brown says she realised just how much she had in common with the heroine. She might not be fighting dragons in real life, but Brown found many parallels between Elodie’s coming-ofage story and her own.
“I loved playing her, I feel that (at) the beginning of the film, in comparison to the end, they are just two completely different versions of her – and I truly feel that probably resembles me in the acting world.
“I started off doing Modern Family and Grey’s Anatomy, very, very timid, and being rejected a lot by the industry … Right now I feel the best version of myself, I feel the strongest version of myself, and I hope to only become stronger. I think it just replicates, and is kind of in parallel to, the performance I played in Damsel.”
“I think saving herself is the main idea in this movie,” Fresnadillo agrees.
“Because in some ways, if you really want to transform yourself, if you really want to evolve and grow, and become a real adult, you have to do it by yourself. You have to trust your instincts and your gut feelings. You shouldn’t pay attention too much to others.
“The only way to really become that strong independent adult is trusting in your instinct, and following your voice. And I think that’s what Elodie does.”