The Marsh King’s Daughter (Neil Burger, 2023)
The Marsh King’s Daughter is Neil Burger’s moody thriller drama, starring Daisy Ridley and Ben Mendelsohn.
It’s the adaptation of the suspense novel by Karen Dionne, which won a lot of awards in 2017-2108. The screenplay was written by Elle and Mark L. Smith, while the movie was directed by Neil Burger, who has made worthwhile movies like The Illusionist (2006) and the first Divergent (2014).
The Marsh King’s Daughter, however, has managed to fly under the radar, reviews haven’t been particularly great and it’s not a commercial success either. I guess sometimes great expectations can work against a film.
So am I here to tell you that it’s a hidden gem? No, not really, but I enjoyed watching it all the same. For my money it’s a pretty solid three star drama, whose biggest shortcoming may be that it’s perpetually downbeat, including an ending that’s downright bleak.
Set in the woods and wilds of Michigan, young Helena (Brooklynn Prince) is mainly raised by her father Jacob (Ben Mendelsohn), who teaches her the hunting and surviving skills she may need herself at some point in the future.
Her mother Beth (Caren Pistorius) seems to be somewhat scared of Jacob, and why that is becomes clear when she, after an unexpectedly violent incident, sees no other option than to knock Helena out and drives away with her on a motorcycle.
Turns out Jacob is the infamous Marsh King who kidnapped Beth when she was a teenager and held her (and Helena) captive all these years.
That’s basically what happens in the first twenty minutes. Then Daisy Ridley takes over as the adult Helena, who has a husband, Stephen (Garrett Hedlund), and a daughter, Marigold (Joey Carson), of her own, even if she hasn’t told them the truth about her past.
Complications ensue when Jacob breaks out of prison and comes looking for what he considers to be his. Cause that’s what one of Jacob’s problems is: he confuses love (if you can even call it that) and family with possession, and will go to extreme lengths to recover what he thinks was unfairly taken away from him.
So will Helena be able to put into practice what she’s learned all those years ago?
The Marsh King’s Daughter is a slow burn thriller in the vein of Winter’s Bone and Where The Crawdads Sing.
It’s well acted - Mendelsohn is always great, Ridley can do dramatic and character actor Gil Birmingham shines in the scenes that he is given as a benevolent policeman.
To add to this, the cinematography is suitably atmospheric and the production design is helped along by Mother Nature.
I guess the psychological drama could have been more profound, while the thriller beats could have been more gripping and the action more exciting.
But the movie has enough character of its own to convince me that, well, even if it’s not great, it’s actually good enough to spend a couple of hours with.
Note: The Marsh King’s Daughter is available on various streaming services.