She is THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Neil Burger, Roadside Attractions and Lionsgate is the intensity of a family that is dealing with the problems of being THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER.

Helena (Daisy Ridley) has been living a quiet life with husband Stephen (Garrett Hedlund) and daughter Marigold (Joey Carson). Yet, there is a past that still haunts her about her father Jacob Holbrook (Ben Mendelsohn), given the nickname The Marsh King, who is in prison. Keeping her head down and looking forward, that façade begins to crumble when Jacob escapes from custody.

The FBI lands on Helena’s door as they suspect he will land on her door. Stephen is confused as to why the government agency is in their house and Helena must tell him who her father truly is. There is so much more he needs to know but can not bring herself to talk about it. Equally surprising is her step-father Clark (Gil Birmingham) also arriving on her doorstep to make sure she is safe and trying to untie the strain in their relationship.

Trust is definetly not in her wheelhouse but when it threatens to destroy what she has built, Helena must make a decision.

That leads to back home to a cabin in the woods as Helena must come to terms with feelings she has been holding deep down. Those feelings and everything she learned as a child might be the one thing to save those she loves from a man she once adored more than anything.

Ridley as Helena has the huge task of bringing the story of a young girl who lived a very secluded life and a way of remembering to adult life. Hiding it all in the shadows, Ridley’s Helena is a bit dark (understandably so) and the secrets are starting to leak out. I enjoyed watching her twist and weave through the characters memories as Helena begins to discover that her life is more of a puzzle than she realized.

Mendelsohn as Jacob was a perfect choice to play the man who taught his daughter everything he knew about survival in their marsh home. There is an immediate creepiness when first seeing Mendelsohn’s Jacob and, as a viewer, didn’t trust him right off. That’s how you know this is a character to keep an eye on. The effect on Helena with or without Jacob means that just the mere thought of this character sends her into chaos. When Mendelsohn is on the screen, it is all pure magic.

Birmingham as Clark is a man who just wants to protect Helena and not just because he is a cop. There is a history between them and he has seen what Jacob and that life did to the young girl and her mother. I always enjoy Birmingham’s performances and this one has just been added to the list of well-done characters.

Hedlund as Stephen is a husband who is not only shocked by the past he had no clue about but confusion about how to deal with it when Helena stays silent. Hedlund role is small but motivating for the characters left to unravel the chaos. Carson as Marigold is just charming and so sweet.

Shout out to Brooklynn Prince as the younger Helena – what an outstanding performance of a young girl who knows nothing different about life than the one she was living. Her dedication to Jacob and her wariness of her own mother gives rise to adulthood difficulties.

Other cast include Brooklynn Prince as young Helena, Caren Pistorius as Helena’s mother, Pamela MacDonald as Mrs. Haver, Dan Abramovici as Max, Imali Perera as Donna, and Sophia Walker as Monica.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK. Now, adding this film to its 16,000-motion picture and television titles you can see everything coming soon as well as available now at http://www.lionsgate.com.

Roadside Attractions has, since 2003, grossed over $300M and garnered nineteen Academy Award nominations. They have had critical and commercial hits such as MANCHESTER BY THE SEA, BEN IS BACK, BEATRIZ AT DINNER, HELLO MY NAME IS DORIS, WINTER’S BONE and THE COVER as well as so many others. For more information of what Roadside Attractions has to offer please visit www.roadsideattractions.com.

THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER is the story of a young girl’s very secluded life and an adult version who is trying to come to terms with the two. The story is taken from the 2017 novel The Marsh King’s Daughter written by Karen Dionne. She used her own experience living in the wilderness to create a setting that works beautifully for the storyline. Seeing Daisy Ridley play the character of Helena, Dionne says, “Ridley has the right demeanor to play this role. The emotion she puts across her face that I was so impressed. It’s a pleasure to watch her bring my character to life and I am beyond excited”.

Director Burger says, “Ridley came in and so right for the part. We talked a lot about this woman’s emotional journey and her past.” The combination of Ridley’s Helena and keeping the setting close allows the telling to flow organically and to come full circle. Following from book to screen, Dionne’s words and descriptions gave Burger everything he needed for the film.

I truly enjoyed THE MARSH KING’S DAUGHTER because, although a little quick at times, there is such a deep background story of these characters. The viewer is given pieces to a life puzzle for these characters but not at all once, instead it is a step by step. There are deep inhale stunning moments and as the story unfolds, a new view of Helena begins to form. Well done to everyone!

In the end – fear the past or face it!

They are Young VOYAGERS

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from writer/director Neil Burger and Lionsgate is the story of being raised in isolation and being sent into space being the next VOYAGERS.

It is time to look for other places to live in the universe and Richard (Colin Farrell) is part of a space program that is creating children in isolation for a journey across space. The idea is to raise the children into young men and women who will take the ship across the vastness of space to a specified distant planet.

Richard decides that he must go with them in order to monitor them. He has come to care for the young people being sent up and is given permission to go. Christopher (Tye Sheridan) and friend Zac (Fionn Whitehead) are curious about everything and spend their time getting into harmless mischief. That is until they uncover information that had only been known to Richard and they are not happy.

This is the time where the two young men make a decision to either follow the plan or rebel in a way that could be dangerous for them all. Christopher tells Sela (Lily-Rose Depp) what is happening and begins to see a change in Zac who is collecting others to his side. When an accident on the ship makes it clear that it is time to choose a leader, two that were once friends become rivals for good and evil.

If any of them are to survive, each person will have to decide for themselves how they want their confined world to be – working together or total destruction.

Sheridan as Christopher has a grasp on what their mission is and even when he discovers that not everything is as he believed, even then he understood there were serious implications for the entire crew. He could have easily chosen the road of narcissism but instead, when the truth comes slowly forward, it gives him options of survival. Sheridan does a fantastic job playing Christopher and if there were ever such a voyage, I would hope there were many Christopher’s on the ship. Sheridan gives his character a sharpness that kept me silently cheering every move his character makes.

Whitehead as Zac has a friendship with Christopher that one would expect since they were raised together. As their trip gets deeper into space, it is Zac that gets deeper into a place that is dangerous for everyone. There is a rage that just lies underneath the surface and Whitehead’s performance lets you know that every moment his character is on screen is scary because there is no place to run! Whitehead has the unique ability to give a frightening stare that can fill the viewer with anxiety beyond belief.

Depp as Sela of course has the look of her very famous father. In her role as Sela, she is a straightforward ‘we have a job to do’ ship mate. When Christopher fills her in on everything that has been happening and his suspicions, Sela wants to do everything possible to stop the chaos just waiting around every corner. Constantly feeling the very stalker-like behavior of Zac, she is not a young woman to be trifled with either. Depp gives us a look at a strong, intelligent and capable space traveler who knows what it is going to take to survive.

Farrell as Richard decides to take this one-way trip with the young crew to keep an eye on their progress and how they handle space. He is also there to dole out advice should his young wards need it. As Richard, Farrell gives his character a soft spoken but stern leader model yet there is one of the crew that does not take to kindly to anyone telling him what to do. Farrell has given us so many unique characters (one of my latest favorites is from the film THE GENTLEMEN) in films so I expect nothing less from any film he does.

Other cast include Chante Adams as Phoebe, Quintessa Swindell as Julie, Archie Madekwe as Kai, Isaac Wright as Edward, Viveik Kalra as Peter, Madison Hu as Anda, Archie Renaux as Alex, Wern Lee as Tayo, Veronica Falcon as Marianne and April Grace as the Mission Director.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK.

Writer/director Burger says of his film about the 80-year voyage, “It’s about human nature in a vacuum – who we are at our core and about a group of extraordinary young people waking up to sensual desires, to freedom, to power, and the thrilling euphoria that goes with that experience.” He also explains that he wanted everything in the film based in reality, “VOYAGERS is not a fantasy. The spacecraft is purely utilitarian and functional based on actual proposals within NANA studying space travel outside our solar system.”

Because of that, the viewer will feel totally drawn into what is happening knowing full well there is no where to go. These individuals are confined to a place where they either work out their problems or fall but if they fall, they fall totally. The ship is very practical and is very much like those aboard – to frilled and very plain to look at. I believe that is what makes these characters stand out as there is nothing else to distract the viewer.

When there is division among the young voyagers, again, there is no place to hide the rage and emotional turmoil which is frightening in the sense that one wrong move….  Buckle up because this is going to be a bumpy ride into space!

In the end – what does it feel like?