Damsel

 So a fantasy film starring Eleven from Stranger Things had hit Netflix, and to mixed reviews online.

Now I am going to say this upfront, I enjoyed the little film for what it is: a good movie for a lazy saturday evening on the couch, nothing more, nothing less.  Not everything put out there can be a blockbuster mega-budget movie.

Centuries ago, the first king of Aurea leads an attack on a dragon residing in his new founded lands, but he and his men are defeated, leaving him at the dragon's mercy.  In the current time, Elodie, oldest daughter of Lord Bayforth who rules over a poor, barren land, is set to be married to the prince of the rich country of Aurea.

While at first unintrested in this marriage of reason, they start forming a bond as they travel the land, but Elodie's stepmother begins thinking something is wrong and that the royal family aren't good people, unsuccesfully asking Elodie to cancel the wedding.  After the wedding, Elodie is to partake in an age old ritual of the lands, bonding by blood as the pact of a tale of the first king and a dragon from centuries ago.  However, as soon as it is made, she is subdued and thrown into the chasm leading to the dragon's lair.

Elodie quickly realizes she is the actual sacrifice to be made to the dragon, and escapes the beast after it burns her leg.  She finds a cave with glowing slugs, and reaches a chamber that says "Safe here she cannot reach" as she experiences a vision of the previous girls sacrificed here.  As she passes out, the slugs heal her leg, and soon after she finds a map of the cave.  

She follows this map to what she thought was an exit, but proves to be an unsafe dead end after all.  As a rescue party by her father arrives, she discovers the true reason behind the ancient tale and the sacrifices: the king of old had the dragon's three hatchlings slain, and as a vengeance the king must sacrifice three princesses every generation.  By binding their blood into the girls, the dragon smells them as royalty.  Even though her father and his men are killed in their rescue attempt, Elodie manages to get out of the mountain. 

As a revenge, the queen has her younger sister thrown in, and Elodie goes back in the mountain to save her, creating a diversion for the dragon and incapitating it by having it burn itself.  She reveals the truth behind the deception of the royal family, before using the slugs to heal the beast.  She returns to the castle to stop the wedding for the third sacrifice, before the dragon arrives, burning down the castle and the royal family with it.  Days later, she returns to her homelands, loaded with supplies for her people and the dragon accompanying them.

So yeah, not the thickest of stories, though it has that nice hatchling plot-twist.  As I stated in the beginning, it is just a fun evening movie, it won't be remembered long, but it isn't a waste of time either unlike some other Netflix 'hyped' productions.