The King's Daughter

The King's Daughter

King Louis XIV's quest for immortality leads him to capture and steal a mermaid's life force, a move that is further complicated by his illegitimate daughter's discovery of the creature.

  • Released: 2022-01-21
  • Runtime: 94 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
  • Stars: Pierce Brosnan, Kaya Scodelario, Benjamin Walker, Rachel Griffiths, Julie Andrews, Fan Bingbing, William Hurt, Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Paul Ireland, Pablo Schreiber, Crystal Clarke, Kaya Blocksage, Kasia Kaczmarek, Tom Morton, Tiffany Hofstetter, Jessica Clarke, Virginia Bowers, Marc de Panda, Jorja Lindsay, Diane Duquesne, Jean-Baptiste Sagory
  • Director: Sean McNamara
 Comments
  • southdavid - 18 January 2024
    Mer-made you look.
    Another film watched for the "How Did This Get Made" podcast and, relative to some of the movies I've watched for that show, this was reasonably watchable, just a bit dull.

    King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan) is convinced by his physician Dr. Labarthe (Pablo Schreiber) that the life essence of Mermaid is what's required to grant him eternal life. He sends his best sailor De La Croix (Benjamin Walker) out to capture one, which miraculously he does, bringing the mermaid (Fan Bingbing) back to Versailles. At the same time, Louis brings a new composer to court. Marie-Josephe (Kaya Scodelario) has grown up in a convent and is unaware that she is the Kings daughter.

    "The Kings Daughter" or "The Moon and the Sun" if you prefer has a more interesting back story than anything that actually happens on screen. Made in 2014, it sat unfinished in post-production for years, partially due to Fan Bingbing's tax issues, that made her unmarketable in China (a big investor in the film) and partially due to issues with the visual effects. To be fair to them, they probably worked out that the film was a bit of a dud too, so weren't particularly motivated to get it out there. The visual look though, away from those middling effects, is actually pretty strong. Shooting at Versailles itself looks cool, then the bulk of the rest in Melbourne with some impressive sets. Performances aren't bad. Kaya Scodelario and Benjamin Walker would meet on the set of this film, and then fall in love and marry in real life.

    Whilst it's watchable, it doesn't work that well, I think because it crowbars extra ideas and characters into a previously successful story. There's no reason for her to be the Kings daughter or for the king to be in it as much as he is and that decision just seems to generate other unneeded elements, such as the marriage proposal storyline.

    Sadly, for all the talent involved (William Hurt of all people) it's not a film worth recommending.
  • anitam - 17 April 2023
    Escapism on the verge of ridiculousness
    There is escapism with fantasy and then there are fantasies that just go into the realm of the ridiculous, this....is the second.

    Pierce Brosnan was just not good in this, I literally found myself squinting at the screen at how bad he was. There are other actors involved that are good actors that do a decent job with what they are given, but truly...even with MY imagination, I just couldn't stomach this movie. I felt let down...badly, let down.

    This story just never seemed to know what it wanted to be. The main lead female was just...lost, the story meandered, the acting was well...camp at best, with a few good characters thrown in here and there. But for the most part, I found the story fairly irredeemable.

    The sad thing is, in the book the lead female character is quite strong, here she's...wishy-washy, and I hate wishy-washy.

    I have no idea what took so long to release this movie, but I suspect there were people going "you spent how much on this piece of flaming **ap!?"

    Again, there are actors within this that I like, but had Disney gotten ahold of it and done it well...it would have been so much better. Why? Because there would have actually been a decent story-line with direction.
  • tarnishedhalotx - 3 October 2022
    Disappointing, Might Be Better as a Mini Series
    I was very intrigued by this, never read the book, but if the book was as weak as the movie, not sure why anyone decided, "Hey let's make a movie sure to flop!" It makes you wonder why it took so long to be released & why Paramount canceled original release in 2014/2015?

    The costuming for the women was awful, considering the beautiful styles of the time period this is supposed to be (the clothes themself were okay, nothing to write home about, but they could've been spectacular). It might have been better with a fictional kingdom and king, but King Louis XIV & France, really? Maybe with a background explaining an alternate history, like in author Kim Harrison's "The Hollows" book series, but this wasn't well done, the historical mixed with fantasy. It's been done & done well, but this was meh at best.

    I think as a series, or even as a one season mini series, there could've been more character & world building, so one didn't constantly feel like they were missing something. I'd look away at something for a few seconds, return my attention to the movie & feel like I missed minutes, rewind, only to discover it really was only seconds, and we'd changed scenes at least once.
  • fluffchop - 25 May 2022
    Kaya Scodelario makes it bearable
    The movie has some good elements, namely Kaya Scodelario. She is the only reason to watch this movie. Pierce Brosnan and William Hurt are really average in this. Kaya Scodelario is a very special actress who brings home the whole movie.