Daisy Ridley gets a meaty non-Star Wars role in “The Marsh King’s Daughter”, the new film from director Neil Burger. His latest is based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Karen Dionne that tells the story of a young woman haunted by unthinkable events from her childhood. It’s a good character for Ridley who gets some solid material to work with. At least until the last act which is where the story slips off track and squanders some otherwise exciting potential.
The movie begins with a beguiling prologue set in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There, deep in the wilderness near a long winding marsh, a 10-year-old girl named Helena (played by Brooklynn Prince) lives off the grid with her quietly reserved mother Beth (Caren Pistorius) and her backwoodsman father Jacob (Ben Mendelsohn). Helena is a daddy’s girl and is constantly by his side as he teaches her how to live off the land. But her understanding of a normal life is shattered by the discovery that her dad is a psychopath (something you might have guessed by just by seeing Mendelsohn’s named attached).
We learn that Jacob abducted Beth twelve years earlier and has held her captive since. The two had Helena who Beth has tried to protect. I won’t spoil how it plays out, but Beth manages to escape with a confused Helena and a pursuing Jacob is arrested. Altogether it’s a well-shot, well-written, and well-executed opening that sets the movie on an intriguing trajectory.
From there the story (penned by Elle and Mark L. Smith) jumps ahead twenty years. Helena (now played by Ridley) is married to the well-meaning but in-the-dark Stephen (Garrett Hedlund) and she has a daughter of her own named Marigold (Joey Carson). She’s kept her true identity hidden from everyone except her step-father Sheriff Clark (Gil Birmingham). But when Jacob (since dubbed “The Marsh King”) manages to escape during a prisoner transfer, her deep dark secret is forced into the light.
From there the movie had the opportunity to go in several different directions. It could have dug into the relationship with her now estranged mother. It could have went deeper into the effects of attempting to bury such intense trauma especially on her marriage. It could have added depth to her thinly sketched relationship with her father-in-law. It could have defied expectations and done something more psychological and suspenseful.
But rather than keeping us guessing or catching us by surprise, the movie goes the more conventional route, leading to an ending that’s as far-fetched as it is predictable. It ends up being a letdown considering the many more interesting avenues it could have traveled. Meanwhile a really good Daisy Ridley performance gets lost in a movie that may have a hard time finding an audience. Why? Because “The Marsh King’s Daughter” doesn’t stand out. It could have, but the unfortunate decision to play it safe holds it back. “The Marsh King’s Daughter” is in theaters now.
VERDICT – 2.5 STARS
keithandthemovies.com 
Uh-oh, no then, and it was going so well!
I know. Not a terrible movie. But it could have been sooo much better.
Well that’s a shame as I was hoping for Daisy Ridley to get a nice post-Star Wars career though to be honest. Her run with the series really ended with a total whimper as I still haven’t revisited the last film and don’t really want to.
She’s really good in this and I’d say it’s worth watching just for her. But unfortunately she can’t carry the full load.
Well then, read the book, it’s a great story & well written. Too bad – it sounds as if the screen writers ruined it.
I can see where the book would open the story up and make it better. That said, this isn’t a terrible movie. But it feels like so much is left out.
It sounds as if the screen writers’ version has ruined it. Read the book, it’s a great story & Karen Dionne is a great writer!
I may do that. Parts of the film were really interesting.
Sounds like it could get a lot of tension built up. Good cast!
There’s some tension but not nearly as much as there could have been.
This wasn’t a bad way to spend an hour and 48 minutes in a mostly empty theater (two other solo people there). It definitely held my attention the whole time, and I thought all the performances were solid. I totally agree that the story could have been so much deeper and more intriguing; but for the many movies I’ve seen in the past year that were either boring, poorly written, or simply unengaging, this was satisfying enough for an afternoon theater experience.
I definitely agree that it has its strengths. Sad to hear it’s doing so poorly at the theater. It feels like people don’t give movies like this a chance these days.
I hate when a movie engrosses me then goes off the rails and wrecks the whole thing, or at least makes it disappointing. I’ll check this one out but have my expectations set.
Yep. It’s a case of a movie that’s “not bad” but that could have been SO much more.
Fantastic spellbinding!! I was captivated the whole time YIKES GO see it!!!