The King's Daughter

Name: The King's Daughter
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Family
Released: January 21, 2022
Duration: 90 min
Rating: 31
Cast: Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Benjamin Walker, Bingbing Fan, Crystal Clarke, Kaya Scodelario

2022

METASCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Ratings

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3.3	User Score Generally unfavorable reviews based on 23 Ratings

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The King's Daughter

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Movie Details & Credits

Gravitas Ventures | Release Date: January 21, 2022 | PG

Starring: Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Benjamin Walker, Bingbing Fan, Crystal Clarke, Kaya Scodelario, Pablo Schreiber, Paul Ireland, Pierce Brosnan, Rachel Griffiths, William Hurt

Summary: King Louis XIV's (Pierce Brosnan) quest for immortality leads him to capture a mermaid's (Bingbing Fan) life force, but his immovable will is challenged when his long-hidden illegitimate daughter (Kaya Scodelario) forms a bond with the magical creature.

Director: Sean McNamara

Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Romance, Family

Rating: PG

Runtime: 90 min

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Critic Reviews

Liam Lacey

Jan 21, 2022

A lavish, deeply silly movie targeted at the adolescent girl market, The King’s Daughter features Pierce Brosnan as The Sun King, Louis XIV, looking like an aging glam rock star, traipsing about the Palace of Versailles in a wavy wig and pouffy sleeves. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 15, 2022

“King” is worth the price of admission just to see the ex-James Bond swanning around the Hall of Mirrors in glorious wig and the stylish raiment of Louis XIV and his trend-setting court. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Jan 21, 2022

The King’s Daughter has a script that reads like it was written in crayon, by someone using only their thumbs. But two good performances make the film watchable: Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV and William Hurt as his adviser and confessor, Pere Francois de La Chaise. Read full review

Charles Bramesco

Jan 20, 2022

If this is all starting to sound like an ambitiously amusing fiasco, don’t be fooled: Scenes saunter by one after the other, their dialogue waterlogged with talk of “believing in the unbelievable” and other soggy turns of phrase. Read full review

Lex Briscuso

Jan 21, 2022

Because of its long road to the screen, I wanted so deeply to like it. However, its haphazard story, mediocre visual effects, downright awful costuming and other cardinal sins made it hard to find anything redeeming about the movie, no matter how many years have passed. Read full review

RogerEbert.com Sheila O'Malley

Jan 21, 2022

It's a vast understatement to say that Vonda McIntyre's book deserved way better treatment than this. Read full review

Mark Kennedy

Jan 20, 2022

January is often where bad films are stashed, but “The King’s Daughter” isn’t just bad, it’s a cloying, cliched mess that’s not worth even the slightest risk of contacting COVID-19 to see in theaters. Read full review

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User Reviews

GamingCouchSpud

Jan 22, 2022

The King's Daughter based on the book The Moon and the Sun, written by Vonda N. McIntyre, is one of those films that has seemingly been in the making forever. You can actually go back to 1999 when talk first started.

Fast forward to 2022 and The King's Daughter is due to be released onThe King's Daughter based on the book The Moon and the Sun, written by Vonda N. McIntyre, is one of those films that has seemingly been in the making forever. You can actually go back to 1999 when talk first started.

Fast forward to 2022 and The King's Daughter is due to be released on January 21, 2022, by Gravitas Ventures.

Since the film is not yet released, I will keep spoilers to an absolute minimum.

In somewhat of a revitalisation of his career, Pierce Brosnan stars as King Louis XIV, who after being shot, is convinced by his daughter, that for the betterment of France, he needs to become immortal, so the King sends his men off to find a mermaid, since mermaids are magical, if you sacrifice the mermaid during a solar eclipse, its life force can be transferred to the King, therefore making him immortal.

They manage to track down and capture the Mermaid pretty quickly, but then have to wait until the eclipse, so for most of the film the mermaid is kept in an underground pond of sorts.

Kaya Scodelario plays Marie-Josèphe, the Kings illegitimate daughter, who finds out about the mermaid and when she sees it, she realises they have a connection, and she befriends her.

Throw in a forced marriage to help save the Kingdom, a true love story, and a semi-CGI mermaid played by Bingbing Fan, and you have a rather impressive family fantasy film. At just under 90 minutes, it is the perfect length to hold your attention.

This is a proper old-fashioned tale, credible acting, a decent budget, a little bit of magic, likeable characters, this really does hit all the right marks for a good film.

The special effects of the mermaid are great, it pretty much stays under water for the whole film, and doesn't speak human language, seemingly communicating telepathically. I was glad they didn't go down all of the classic clichéd routes that mermaid films tend to go, and by not going down that route, it really kept the mystery and magic of the whole mermaid mythology strong.

The Good
Great acting, lovely story, perfect for the whole family.

The Bad
Nothing really, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Perhaps the lack of publicity in the US and the UK will hurt sales, I imagine if a big studio like Disney were behind this, it would be on every billboard in town.

Overall
Hard to dislike this, perfect for the whole family, I highly recommend The King's Daughter.
I score The King's Daughter a very strong 9/10… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

bac2sq1

Jan 30, 2022

I was all set to hunker down and enjoy, what I thought was, a remarkable film! I was sorely mistaken. Although watchable, I was anxious for it to be over. Not really the performance I had expected from Pierce Brosnan. I found it to be poorly scripted and almost as if he was just readingI was all set to hunker down and enjoy, what I thought was, a remarkable film! I was sorely mistaken. Although watchable, I was anxious for it to be over. Not really the performance I had expected from Pierce Brosnan. I found it to be poorly scripted and almost as if he was just reading from the script. The part was portrayed with a lackluster feel to it. Not at all impressed! The story line was interesting and the other main characters were convincing enough in their portrayals, however the overall choice of actors could have been far better. All in all, very disappointed with this flick!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

RobertHoward

Sep 4, 2022

We have sceneries (with mediocre CGI), costumes, extras, a decent cast, even the original Versailles and everything looks as expected, yet it isn’t eye-catching or intriguing. Fantasy needs to inspire and The King’s Daughter simply doesn’t.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Jan 25, 2022

This film was made in 2014, but took til 2022 to be released. Obs, this is not a good sign and after seeing the movie, it's even a worse sign. Pierce Brosnan plays Louis XIV, who is determined to live forever, so he sends an expedition to bring home a mermaid. Meanwhile, his daughter (KayaThis film was made in 2014, but took til 2022 to be released. Obs, this is not a good sign and after seeing the movie, it's even a worse sign. Pierce Brosnan plays Louis XIV, who is determined to live forever, so he sends an expedition to bring home a mermaid. Meanwhile, his daughter (Kaya Scodelario) who's been hidden away in a convent, is brought to the Versailles (where the film was partially shot). This plot is absurd enough, but the sadly surface script takes the project into painfully bad territory. It's made even worse by the flat direction of Sean McNamara, who directed the embarrassing VA production The Field of Lost Shoes. Even the accomplished DP Conrad Hall couldn't manage to make the gorgeous palace look beautiful and what should be dazzling period costumes are a yawn. The simple predictability of the plot and earnest melodramatic slant of the production could appeal to children, who are more forgiving with their fantasy. Otherwise, it's a complete bust.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Gahddammitdiane

Jun 9, 2023

Bad writing, bad editing, horribly misplaced and impractical costumes. Should’ve been left on the shelf and forgotten.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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