Damsel parents guide: Millie Bobby Brown's latest Netflix hit crowns her the princess of streaming

We have all heard the stories of the prince coming to rescue the damsel in distress. What about when the damsel has to rescue herself? That’s the storyline in Damsel on Netflix, the latest blockbuster fantasy flick that roared onto the streaming service like a dragon on a rampage this past Friday (March 8).

In Damsel, Stranger Things and Enola Holmes star Millie Bobby Brown takes on the role of Elodie, a young girl from a starving kingdom who is married into royalty to save her people. However, this sacrifice is much bigger than having to deal with an arranged marriage instead of marrying for love.

It turns out that Elodie is a sacrifice for the royal family. There’s a dragon that lives underground and has made a deal to not go after the people of the kingdom in return for three royal daughters. As Elodie slowly unravels the mystery at the heart of this deal, she also needs to figure out a way to save herself -- because nobody is coming to save her.

With that in mind, your kids probably already love Brown from the Enola Holmes movies and (for the older kiddos) Stranger Things. But is Damsel appropriate, or will it leave you kids in distress?

Why Damsel is the perfect movie for tweens and teens:

The official rating for Damsel is PG-13, and having seen the movie, it really is something that is suitable for teens. I’d also say tweens after watching it, but younger children may get a little too scared.

This is a movie with a lot of intense and frightening scenes. After all, it’s about a young girl trying to survive in a cave against a fire-breathing dragon. This leads to a fight for survival, and Elodie suffers a fair few injuries throughout the movie.

The rating is for the intensity of the scenes. There is no nudity or drug use. This movie also doesn’t include much in the way of harsh language. Of course, our young heroine has moments as she fights for survival—who wouldn’t?—but there are no F-bombs at any point. It's all fire-breathing, and the scariness of what would happen if people got CGI-burned.

On the positive side, this is one of those movies that teaches young girls not to wait for a man to come save her. The stories of princes saving damsels in distress are just stories. Women can fight for their own survival. Elodie is also a smart woman who discovers how to make use of everything she has to find a way out of the cave, while also figuring out what’s really going on with the sacrifice.

The storyline itself is pretty basic and predictable for adults. However, tweens and young teens won’t have seen it play out as often. This is worth watching with them, and afterwards, maybe they won't think about fairy tales in the same way! Thanks, Millie Bobby Brown!

Damsel is available to stream on Netflix.