NateWatchesCoolMovies Review of The Marsh King's Daughter

The Marsh King's Daughter (2023)

I wish they went deeper into that marsh, so to speak

[4/10 · 5 December 2023]

Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn embody the ultimate dysfunctional father daughter dynamic in Neil Burger's The Marsh King's Daughter, a handsome, well acted, atmospheric thriller that frustratingly avoids much of the psychological depth, complexity or emotional honesty one would hope to find in a story with this much potential. Young Helena (Brooklyn Prince) lives with her enigmatic father (Mandelsohn) and troubled mother (Caren Pistorius) in the heart of Michigan's wild upper peninsula, in a nature based existence far away from society, seemingly idyllic. Soon her world is shattered when her mother grabs her and makes a breathless escape to civilization and she realizes her father whom she loves, trusts and idolizes is in fact a disturbed abductor who has been keeping her mother out there all these years. She grows up into haunted Daisy Ridley who harbours this difficult secret for years, has a daughter of her own and tries to move on... until dad escapes from prison and comes looking for her. This film profoundly frustrated me because Daisy and Ben are such capable, terrific actors and getting them for a script like this is so exciting but the narrative here devolves into such a predictable, cheap thriller in the third act it almost made me mad. It's disheartening because there are scenes of such power and potency early in, like the visually invigorating prologue with her as a kid full of daring drone camera choices and lush, gorgeous wilderness cinematography. Later on we observe Ridley in a stunning moment of vulnerability as she finally tells her husband (Garrett Hedlund) about her shrouded past. This could have been such a dense, thought provoking piece of work but the minute Dad shows up back into the picture the writing just flattens right out into this superficial, rushed, surface level resolution and it's a goddamn shame. This is based on a book by somebody called Karen Dionne and I'm not sure if her version of the story took a little more tact and introspection with these characters but if so, she's probably out there fuming at how careless an adaptation this is. You're better off watching the first half, which is admittedly excellent on almost every level, then imagining up your own ending.