Damsel
Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): March 8, 2024 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
14
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
79
Paste MagazineTara Bennett Mar 8, 2024
As a fantasy, Damsel convincingly transports us into the lair of a dragon that is often stunning and always intriguing. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comNell MinowMar 7, 2024
It’s too bad this is not on a big screen, because the settings are filled with enticing details that bolster some of the weakness of the screenplay. Even on the smaller screen, though, the fresh, female-led take on the traditional tale, including a bit of a sisterhood-is-powerful twist near the end, makes it worth a watch. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperMar 7, 2024
This is a well-photographed and rousing tale, with the “Stranger Things” star doing fine work as the fiercely determined heroine, and a deep and talented group of familiar faces in key supporting roles. Read full review
70
CNNBrian LowryMar 8, 2024
The film has an old-fashioned “B movie” vibe, which, for a project headed straight to Netflix, is almost exactly as it should be. As for the feminist message wrapped into the premise, it’s merely further evidence that Brown, at the ripe old age of 20, looks like a boss both on screen and off. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 8, 2024
More than a fantasy adventure, Damsel is a grisly and at times even touching tale of endurance and survival. It’s sweaty, snarly fun. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMar 7, 2024
What matters most is whether we believe Brown in the role, and the “Stranger Things” star has no trouble embodying the kind of quick-thinking independent mind it takes to survive such an adventure. Read full review
70
SlashfilmBJ ColangeloMar 7, 2024
Damsel lives and dies by the performance of Elodie and thankfully, Millie Bobby Brown establishes herself as the new Mother of the Dragons. She expertly finds the balance between a terrified woman thrown into an unthinkable circumstance, and a fighter unwilling to give up when things get tough. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineJustin ClarkMar 7, 2024
At its best, Damsel suggests a dark fantasy riff on Neil Marshall’s The Descent. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeMar 8, 2024
If Damsel doesn’t exactly rewrite the storybook, it makes for a competent rework of it, a rousing revenge saga that provides a thin yet encouraging message for its younger female audience and a balm for those older viewers who grew up being spoon-fed the same old gendered cliches. Read full review
60
The Daily BeastNick SchagerMar 7, 2024
Has its heart in the right place but little else, starting out competently and then slowly falling apart with each clumsy step along its "Game of Thrones"-lite path. Read full review
60
Rolling StoneDavid FearMar 7, 2024
It’s a movie that works a lot better when it sticks to its star running, jumping, dodging, ducking and, eventually, fighting back. That’s more of a comfort zone for Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who specializes in horror films that involve pursuit and tight spots (28 Weeks Later, Intruders). Read full review
60
Total FilmKevin HarleyMar 7, 2024
Brown and the beast strike sparks as Fresnadillo’s initially lukewarm adventure gradually heats up. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate ErblandMar 7, 2024
What follows is misdirection, flashbacks, visions, and wooden dialogue. At least the action is good, and Brown is game as ever. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredFrancisca TinocoMar 11, 2024
There are sporadic sparks of magic in 'Damsel', especially when it's navigating its better-fitting element of action fantasy rather than fairytale. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 8, 2024
Some of it plays, some of it doesn’t. Brown isn’t bad, although her character’s coming into her own is so preachy and self-empowering that it’s eye-rolling time. Read full review
50
ObserverEmily ZemlerMar 7, 2024
The film, written by Dan Mazeau and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, is well-intentioned in its thematic arc, but its execution falters. Read full review
50
The New York TimesAlissa WilkinsonMar 7, 2024
Damsel is evidence that studios still don’t realize that a “strong female lead” is not enough to make a movie good. More is required: a strong set of supporting characters, a strong plot, a strong sense of what makes a movie interesting to an audience. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterLovia GyarkyeMar 7, 2024
Fresnadillo’s film puts on fewer airs of disruption than other versions of this story, so the narrative comes off as less self-satisfied. Still, it struggles to sustain an inspirational tenor. Read full review
50
ColliderMaggie LovittMar 7, 2024
Rather than embracing the more nuanced themes, the film shies away from deeper introspection. Read full review
40
EmpireDavid OpieMar 8, 2024
Too childish and shallow for adults, yet too brutal and gory for kids, this is one Damsel that really does need saving, after all. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyMar 7, 2024
It’s hard to imagine what anyone could get out of Damsel that isn’t already liberally covered by Brown’s other projects. There’s a sweetness to Stranger Things’s Eleven, and a wit to Enola, that offer the actor a hell of a lot more to do than Damsel’s mean-mugging to camera. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonMar 7, 2024
Ms. Brown, who first came to our attention in “Stranger Things,” and for good reason, is surrounded by a cast that may have lost a bet. Read full review
33
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMar 7, 2024
The heroine of the film may not be in distress, but oh boy, is this movie in desperate need of saving. Read full review
30
IGNMarya E. GatesMar 7, 2024
A weak script and boring performances make the Netflix fantasy film Damsel a real slog, torpedoing its attempt to be a subversive spin on classic adventure tales. Any sense of wonder or magic is diluted by cheap-looking CGI and its overly repetitive action sequences. Read full review
30
Screen RantAlex HarrisonMar 7, 2024
Damsel is a lifeless experience. The filmmakers have assembled all the constituent parts of an interesting fantasy adventure film — genre-bending premise, a starry cast, locations with character, and some creative creature design — but the connective tissue is paper-thin. Read full review
25
ABC NewsPeter TraversMar 8, 2024
Millie Bobby Brown fights a heroic battle as a princess bride up against a digital dragon, but it’s not the damsel but the audience that will suffer distress from the nonstop, numbing repetition that turns this Netflix movie dull and dreary way too fast. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 7, 2024
There’s one unalloyed good thing to be said for Damsel: It marks the end of Millie Bobby Brown’s apprenticeship. Her child actress years are over. She’s grown up and ready to star in movies that audiences can take as seriously as she does. Read full review
20
The TelegraphTim RobeyMar 7, 2024
Rather than being any particular person’s bright idea for a girlboss fantasy revenge caper, this lousy romp was obviously hatched by an algorithm, and might just as well have been directed by AI. Read full review
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