X
- 2022
- PG
- Gravitas Ventures
- 1 h 38 m
- 2022
- PG
- Gravitas Ventures
- 1 h 38 m
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.
Directed By: Sean McNamara
Written By: Barry Berman, James Schamus, Vonda N. McIntyre
- 2022
- PG
- Gravitas Ventures
- 1 h 38 m
- 2022
- PG
- Gravitas Ventures
- 1 h 38 m
The King's Daughter
31
3.3
Where to Watch
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.
Directed By: Sean McNamara
Written By: Barry Berman, James Schamus, Vonda N. McIntyre
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
31
17% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
33% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Negative
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 18 Critic Reviews
31
17% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
33% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Negative
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
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.
It was on this film that Scodelario met Walker. The couple are now married, which suggests there’s a “happily ever after” to be found somewhere in this froufrou film maudit.
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
3.3
13% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
43% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
43% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
User Score
Generally Unfavorable
Based on 23 User Ratings
3.3
13% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
43% Mixed
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
43% Negative
10 Ratings
10 Ratings
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 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
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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.
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There might indeed be a fine movie lurking within the pages of that original source material, but “The King’s Daughter” is not that movie.
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.
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.
The film provides no space to explore its relationships, and as a result there’s little friction to the climax.
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.
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 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!
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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 (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.
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Bad writing, bad editing, horribly misplaced and impractical costumes. Should’ve been left on the shelf and forgotten.
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Production Company
Lightstream Pictures Australia,
TKD Film Rights,
Bliss Media,
Brookwell-McNamara Entertainment,
Kylin Pictures,
Lightstream Entertainment
Release Date Jan 21, 2022
Duration 1 h 38 m
Rating PG
Tagline A King. His Daughter. A Hidden World.
Awards
Razzie Awards
• 3 Nominations
World Soundtrack Awards
• 1 Win & 1 Nomination
Hollywood Music In Media Awards (HMMA)
• 1 Nomination
