After spending her childhood with her father (Ben Mendelsohn), the man who held her mother (Caren Pistorius) captive, Helena (Daisy Ridley) has buried her past and built a new life with an unsuspecting husband (Garrett Hedlund) and child.
When her father escapes prison, Helena finds her new life upended. Paranoid of his return, and haunted by her memories, Helena tries to figure out a way to confront the ‘Marsh King’ before he finds her…
Rarely have I seen a movie with so much obvious potential that fails to fulfil it:
It has an intriguing concept, or a solid cast.
You could take it in so many directions: a character study, a suspense thriller, a straight-ahead thriller.
While watching this movie, I could not help feeling excited by the movie in my head - and frustrated by the one I was watching.
For a movie with a totally legible storyline, with identifiable character arcs and thematic intention, The Marsh King’s Daughter should work.
There is too much air in this movie - there is no sense of narrative momentum, no sense of tension or dread (either for the father’s literal return, or the title character’s fear of said return).
The movie takes so long to show its hand, and the journey is not that compelling.
The movie wants to deal with this idea of family, and the way parents influence us, but it never goes anywhere.
The third act is a by-the-numbers thriller set-piece which could have come from any movie. It features a couple of instances of Helena using her childhood hunting skills, but it has all been done before, and lacks the catharsis the filmmakers intended.
The acting by all is fine - Ridley and Mendelsohn are watchable, and Gil Birmingham brings some gravitas to an underwritten foster father figure.
Frankly I think I would have more to say about the performances if the movie was more sure of what it wanted to be.
Or even if it was just tighter. The movie seems unwilling or unable to figure out what is terrifying or potentially suspenseful about the story.
If it was more of an unpretentious crowd-pleaser, it probably would be a little generic - but at least it would be clear in its intentions.
As is, The Marsh King’s Daughter exists in a weird middle ground of inertia. A pity.
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