Netflix’s teen drama Royalteen: Princess Margrethe follows the titular princess contending with the stress and anxieties due to a prom scandal and family drama.
Story
Margrethe does cocaine and drinks alcohol at the prom, which eventually lands her at the hospital and when her parents learn about it, they warn her to never pull something like this again.
However, Margrethe’s anxieties are because of another concern that involves Gustav, the guy who she was doing drugs with and also who recorded her doing cocaine. She fears the video getting leaked and asks him to delete it.
Meanwhile, to get her mind off things, her friend Ingrid asks her to make a move on Alexander, the prince of Denmark, and her friend. Margrethe ends up getting embarrassed after Alexander tries to explain to her that he doesn’t see her in a romantic light.
Margrethe fights with Ingrid and later goes to ask Gustav again that he deletes the video, which he refuses to do so unless she sleeps with him. She storms off and spends the night at a stranger’s house.
Time passes, and she soon learns that the video has been leaked. She is prepped by the PR team to give a confident statement to the media. Before that, though, she learns about her parent’s dysfunctional relationship and that her father is gay.
She lets out her vulnerabilities and frustrations to the media, but it helps boost her confidence and makes her feel normal again. She apologizes to Ingrid and makes up with her, before helping Arnie with his opening DJ set, kissing him on stage, and beginning her relationship with him.
Performances
There are no standouts in terms of the performances but the leads do an adequate job as far as the portrayal of a teen’s emotional turmoil goes.
Elli Müller Osborne is believable as the royal princess who’s weighed down by the constant expectations her family and society have, and how the inability to express herself in a more regular manner prevents her from coping with the prom scandal properly.
Frode Winther as the King and Kirsti Stubø as the Queen is also believable in their renditions of tumultuous feelings and emotions they’re going through while trying to keep appearances up.
Positives
The film has a crisp runtime which makes things go by rather swiftly and without overstaying their welcome.
The scenery that the locations provide is something to take one’s attention away when the content of the film is not as strong or beautiful.
Negatives
The Central conflict of Royalteen: Princess Margrethe is really weak and doesn’t even amount to anything significant at the end.
Gustav, who serves as the creepy antagonist doesn’t receive anything for what he pulls, and the end of his arc is reserved for a momentary look of embarrassment at the end, which feels farthest from cathartic or even interesting.
The manner in which Princess Margrethe overcomes her inner turmoil and anxieties is really unbelievably transient and ridiculous. King Sverre’s sexuality is also rendered as nothing but a subversive little twist that makes the familial tension even less effective.
DJ Arnie’s tracks are horrible, and it’s difficult keeping up the same enthusiasm as the cast of actors seems to be sporting. Margrethe and Arnie’s kiss at the end also seems unearned, on the latter’s part especially, since he does little to insist and ask one of his closest friends what’s wrong with her every chance he gets.
Verdict
Royalteen: Princess Margrethe remarkably fails to deliver on any of the promises associated with its genres. Poor characters, poor writing, and poor directing are all the salient features that make this movie the most drab, boring, and dull it can get.
The romantic tensions, the stakes, and the drama all seem muted and purposefully diluted, robbing the film of whatever potential it sets off with.
Royalteen: Princess Margrethe
Director: Ingvild Søderlind
Date Created: 2023-05-11 12:30
1.5
Also Read: Royalteen: Princess Margrethe summary & ending explained