Movie review
March 7, 2024 · 107 min · PG-13
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
Damsel is a 2024 Netflix fantasy action film about a young princess from a poor kingdom who marries a prince from a wealthy one to save her people from hardship. On her wedding night she is betrayed and thrown into a dragon’s lair as a sacrifice to fulfill an ancient pact. The story centers on her fight for survival using wits and strength, with clear emphasis on female self-reliance and rejection of traditional princess roles through symbolic acts like ripping apart her wedding dress.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Damsel.
Woke representation / casting
Casting uses actors who fit a European fantasy kingdom setting with no race or identity swaps from the original story; one supporting role adds visible diversity without quota signals or world-breaking mismatches.
Woke political dialogue
No modern activist language, speeches, or ideological lectures appear; all conflict stays inside the fantasy plot of betrayal and survival.
Identity-driven story themes
Noticeable focus on female empowerment and subverting the damsel-in-distress trope, including the lead shedding traditional feminine symbols to survive and triumph; reviews widely flag this as feminist messaging though it stays surface-level without deeper race, sexuality, or queer elements.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Shows a rich royal family exploiting and sacrificing poor girls from other kingdoms to keep their power and safety, framing elite corruption in fantasy terms without direct modern political parallels.
Production
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant; fully original story with no ties to existing characters, books, or history.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Online posts and videos call out girlboss feminism, anti-patriarchy symbolism in the dress-ripping scenes, and perceived anti-male framing in the royal betrayal; complaints exist but remain scattered and secondary to plot gripes with no large organized pushback.
Creator track record context
Main creatives hold low established scores for commercial genre work without activist patterns; director research shows no supporting evidence of identity-driven or political focus.
