Angela Bassett and Robin Wright also star in Netflix’s anti-fairytale
Stranger Things‘ Millie Bobby Brown is entering another kind of Upside Down. In the Damsel trailer released Tuesday, Elodie, a disgraced princess, attempts to survive an impossible fate.
After a damsel (Brown) agrees to marry a prince, her body is chucked into a cave home to a fire-breathing dragon — the prince’s family sacrifices her to pay off a major debt. The offering is a century-long tradition marked by “honor and duty,” as the trailer shares, made clear as Elodie brushes her hand across the carved names of previously distressed damsels. Brown trades her regal gown and gold-encrusted jewelry for a sword and climbing gear (made from her own hair) in an effort to escape the bowels of the monster’s lair.
“This is not a fairytale,” the trailer states.
Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) plays Elodie’s stepmother, while Robin Wright (Forrest Gump) plays Elodie’s new mother-in-law. “They may be royalty, but that doesn’t make them good people,” Elodie’s stepmother says in the trailer, striking a rivalry between the maternal figures.
Nick Robinson (Jurassic World), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Star Trek Beyond), Ray Winstone (The Departed), and Brooke Carter (The Peripheral) also join the cast.
The Juan Carlos Fresnadillo-directed, Dan Mazeau-written film arrives on March 8.
“What I really loved in the script from Dan Mazeau was embracing the idea of a fantasy adventure and a princess and dragon story, but taking it into a place [where] it’s completely upside down,” Fresnadillo told Tudum. “It was a very intense journey that I was so excited to design and to develop. At the core, this is such a beautiful story about a young woman becoming a strong, independent, and empowered adult. Elodie doesn’t have any kind of support. It’s a real survival experience.”
