By Kevin Muller

The chance to be the lead in a big budget film, like the ones in the Star Wars franchise, is any actor’s dream. In 2015, we were introduced to Daisy Ridley, who was Rey in Episodes 7-9. The young actress had Hollywood in her hands. While filming the trilogy, she popped up in some popular films like Murder on the Orient Express and Peter Rabbit.  Unfortunately, as a lead actress, she hasn’t found that much success. Now, she is taking a stab at an adaptation of the popular novel The Marsh King’s Daughter. Has the actress found the right project to showcase her talents?

Ridley plays Helena, a woman who has created a nice and stable life for herself. That stability is rocked when her biological father, known as “The Marsh King,” escapes from prison. When she was a child, she grew up in the woods with her mother and father.   Her father, Jacob, was a man of the wild who taught her about survival. Unknowing to her, her mother was kidnapped before she was born by Jacob and forced to live out a life that she didn’t want. Luckily, Helena and her mother escaped the tragic situation and Jacob was thrown in jail. Now, she is married with a young daughter, but she knows Jacob is tracking her, despite her best efforts to keep him away.

The pacing of the film, which runs almost two hours, can be sluggish. Writer and director Neil Burger isn’t a strong enough director to keep this film’s tension at a constant high. Someone like David Fincher could’ve made this film sing, instead of possessing the muted vibe that it contains. Burger does bring some interesting visual story telling techniques to the table, but they are few and far between. The main problem is that the themes of the story which are communicated using Native American folklore, are flirted with but never reach their maximum potential. This is a shame since strengthening that aspect of the film would’ve had it possess more of its own identity. The film’s setting and spiritual elements feel like background noise.

What Burger does succeed in doing is bringing the proper actors to bring these characters to life. Ridley brings the goods to bring Helena alive. If you have seen her audition tape for Star Wars, she is able to convincingly communicate pain and suffering.  During the film’s climax, Helena is thrown back into the world that she managed to escape, and this is where Ridley shines. Ridley is an athletic and is best when the role calls for her to bring out the physicality of the character. When that survival instinct comes back, Ridley is so much fun to watch. Ben Mendelsohn plays Jacob. Whenever he is in a villainous role, it is a given that he will sell that aspect of the character. Even though he isn’t doing anything different, he is still a joy to watch. One of the more stable characters is Clark, who is the law enforcement in the town, but also acted as Helena’s stepdad when she was left parentless. Gil Birmingham does a fantastic job as the voice of reason. Him and Ridley’s chemistry is truthful and real. It is one of the things that work most in the film. Unfortunately, Garret Hedlund, who plays Ridley’s clueless, but well-meaning husband, is wasted. It is a role that any good-looking actor could’ve played.

The Marsh King’s Daughter is a completely forgettable film that has some impressive visual aspects within it. Sadly, most of the film plays like a typical thriller that even though he has Ridley and Mendelsohn in the chorus.

 

I am giving The Marsh King’s Daughter a 2.5 out of 5 Hairpieces!

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