The Marsh King's Daughter

In mild thriller "The Marsh King's Daughter" Ben Mendelsohn's arrested after holding Caren Pistorius captive in the US wilds, where she had Brooklyn Prince who she & Mendelsohn raised for 12 yrs. Years later Prince (now Daisy Ridley) has a child of her own (via hubbie Garrett Hedlund) who Mendelsohn comes for (or does he?) on escaping prison. Director Neil Burger styles it like "Where The Crawdads Sing" / "Lou" but it's lower quality, thanks mainly to the co-writing duo of debutant Elle Smith & "The Covenant" co-writer Mark L Smith whose script is implausible, hole-filled & short-cutting. Gil Birmingham lends decent support, but this one is only just passable.

A very enjoyable thriller which starts stronger than it finishes, The Marsh King's Daughter is about a young woman stalked by her criminal father after she starts a new life away from him after he abducted her mother many years previously. Can she sever the still-lingring attachment she feels towards him forever?

I must say, I was surprised to discover the low rating for the movie on here. As far as I'm concerned, it gripped me it's mixture of our titular protagonist adapting to city life with her new family after spending so long in the wilderness, and the tension-packed present when she discovers her supposely dead convicted papa might not be so deceased after all.

So after both the drama and suspence are both top notch, the fact the film ends with one of those oh-so-predictable violent struggles struggles out of the Hollywood playbook was a tad dispiriting, not not enough to stop me from giving it any less than 7/10.

The characters in this film extremely well portrayed by Mendelsohn and Daisy Ridley. Helena (played by Daisy) young girl brought up in the marshes and taught to survive in nature. I loved this a real bond between father and daughter in the wilderness later in the film you can see how torn Helena is between the modern world and the natural world, not quite knowing where she fits, the film lays out the extreme Bond and love between a mother and a daughter and the idolisation of a father. This one is definitely worth a watch story runs at a good pace it delivered well. Most mothers would die for their children you will have to watch the film to see if this is necessary.

I was quite lucky I didn't read the IMDb synopsis for 'The Marsh King's Daughter' before seeing it, because it would've completely ruined the film's opening - and the opening is the strongest thing this film has going for it.

From there the film falls into "perfectly fine" land. Everything is passable and it's a mildly entertaining way to pass 110 minutes. But there's nothing daring or original or memorable here sadly.

The film also relies heavily on characters making nonsensical decisions that only make sense as a method to drive the plot forward. You either get used to that in this film or you're unlikely to have a good time.

As I mentioned, if you go in with a positive attitude and you're not looking for perfection you might just have a reasonably good time with this film. Even if you do however, I doubt you'll think about it again a week after seeing it. 6/10.

3 out of 5 stars.

The Marsh Kings Daughter is a fair psychological thriller film that has a good story. The script and direction is dull with a plain direction and flat characters.

The acting was okay with its cast ensemble. Daisy Ridley did her best with what was given. The characters were thinly written. It does have some thrills with Daisy trying to protect her family. And searching for her father which leads to a thrilling climax in the forest. The film lacks itself from being memorable or any different. It could have been better with a stronger script and sharp direction. Overall it was an okay film.