The King's Daughter

A young girl with a talent for writing music is introduced to the king's court, where she befriends a mermaid.

The plot is very simplistic and the characters are a bit two dimensional, but it contains magic and mermaids This is not the film for a middle-aged man but younger viewers, especially girls, will love it.

Just look at that cast: Pierce Brosnan, magnificent as an all powerful yet decadent king, William Hurt, great as always as the king's cardinal, Kaya Scodelario, beautiful as ever, Pablo Schreiber as the villain, Rachel Griffiths in a tiny role, even Fan Bingbing as... the non talking CGI creature?! And it's a fairy tale about Louis XIV's France, shot at Versailles, featuring a mermaid! How can you get this wrong?

And wrong they got it. A complete mess where the only redeeming quality is the acting and interaction of Brosnan and Hurt. It's not unwatchable, but a clear failure. And I get it, really. It's not easy to basically do a Disney film (mermaid, pirates, princesses, pompous figures in fancy clothes) in 2015, especially on a budget and with your parent company delaying the release for seven years. But they could have tried harder, made it a two parter, given the characters time to grow and for the viewers to get attached to them. Instead it feels like a bed time story read by a tired parent who just wants to go to sleep.

Although I wouldn't consider it a kids movie, or much of a family movie which was what I thought it would be. The topics of conversation at points insinuating very adult things. So it made for an odd mash up, a fairy tale for adults. It was nice to see a high ranking religious official that was truly a good man and not the villain for once. That would have been very clique, and typical of most movies set in this time. Everyone loves to vilify religion, yes I know historically there were, and still are, horrendous acts done in the name of religion but they are few compared to the many that are not. It was just nice to see the good side for once. The overall story was fairly simple, not an action packed adventure. I think a lot of people were bored because they were expecting a swashbuckler or a "man in the iron mask" level of action and depth, leading them to be disappointed. I went into this not having much of an idea what it was, I hadn't seen any type of trailer, or heard anything about it. All I knew was what the info attached said, which wasn't much. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, the acting was good, the visuals were fun. It was well put together and moved at an even pace. For me other was worth the watch.

For review of the plot, read other reviews...

The costuming is AWFUL. Late 17th to early 18th century French court was visually *stunning*. Extant clothes from the time are brightly colored, with huge skirts and layers of ruffles. This was a time of huge silk imports and fantastical wigs.

What do we get in this movie?

2010s high fashion on a shoestring budget. The colors are there, but the silhouette is nowhere to be found. Pencil skirts, no one wearing sleeves. Ugh.

Mirror Mirror did better 18th century dresses, and that's a fairytale.

Frankly, the lack of costuming knowledge makes this movie unwatchable.

Some think this might be William Hurt's last movie but it isn't. The filming was done in 2014, seven years before his death, but was only released in 2022. He plays a priest that was the confessor to France's King Louis XIV in the 17th century.

The crux of the story is that the King's doctor thinks Mermaids have a magical quality and if they can catch one and dissect it then they can bestow the King with immortality at the next total solar eclipse, to occur in a few days.

Other than the King, his Confessor, his doctor, and the Mermaid, the pivotal character is a young lady who thinks she is an orphan and has spent her life growing up in a strict convent. She is in fact the King's daughter, her mother died right after childbirth, the public does not know about her. She has always had an affinity for the sea and finds that she and the Mermaid bond easily.

As with all fairy tales there is an underlying message about humanity, in this one it is the King arriving at the point where he no longer cares only about himself. My wife and I enjoyed it at home, streaming on FreeTV with a few commercials. We enjoyed it, we were entertained.