Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and Digital from director Sean McNamara and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of THE KING’S DAUGHTER.

Marie-Josephine (Kaya Scodelario) is a handful and being raised in a convent in France. She loves the sea and often brings a little trouble with her for the nuns. Also in France is King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan), who begins to feel his mortality when struck by a bullet from an angry villager. His physician, Dr. Labarthe (Pablo Schreiber) tells him about magical properties that can be found in mermaids.

Sending Captain Yves De La Croix (Benjamin Walker), the King has one order, capture the mermaid creature and bring it back. Louis wants to perform a ritual during the coming eclipse that will make him immortal. Someone who is against what the King wants to do is Father Francois La Chaise (William Hurt).

But the good Father is on his own mission, to bring Marie-Josephine back to Versailles to play music. When she arrives, she meets Magali (Crystal Clarke) who fills her in on palace life. What Marie-Josephine does not know is that the King needs money and in order to do that he is willing to marry her off to Jean-Michel Lintillac (Ben Lloyd-Hughes).

Creating a friendship with the mermaid, Marie-Josephine and Captain De La Croix also see each other differently. As the eclipse draws near and with Father La Chaise unable to stop what is about to happen, a plan is formed to help the mermaid escape and rejoin her own family.

Scodelairo as Marie-Josephine is a young woman who is a tad defiant and very talented musically. She is excited to be brought to Versailles until she slowly uncovers the reasons. Befriending the mermaid, a bond is formed that pushes her do to whatever it takes to save her.

Brosnan as King Louis is a narcissistic man who thinks being immortal will keep France safe when I believe more that he just wants to be immortal. Even when his advisers try to sway him from doing the mermaid harm, he wants what he wants and after all – he is the King.

Hurt as Father La Chaise believes that the King could be such a good man if he would stop listening to others feeding into doing harm. Once he understands the mermaid, it is time to help both the lady of the sea and the young Marie-Josephine both find their true destinies. It is nice to see Hurt one last time on the screen and in this role as such a loving and caring person.

Walker as De La Croix is ordered by the King to bring back a mermaid, but he slowly sees what Marie-Josephine sees in the lovely sea lady. He also begins to have feelings for the lovely land lady as well. Now it’s the pull between the orders given by the King and what his heart knows is right.

Schreiber as Labarthe is just a sinister doctor in refined clothing. He is the reason for the plight of the mermaid and nothing or no one is going to stop him. Even as Marie-Josephine tries over and over to get the King to see the error of his ways, Labarthe twists everything. Schreiber has the demeanor of someone I would not want to mess with.

Clarke as Magali is a young woman who is thrilled to befriend Marie-Josephine. Together, she knows Versailles and its ways and helping her new friend becomes so important. Clarke is sweet and clever and plays this role divinely.

Other cast include Paul Ireland as Benoit, Terry Norris as Great Chamberlain, Kasia Kaczmarek as Sister Constance, Jessica Clarke as Madam Devereaux, Kaya Blocks and Bingbing Fan as The Mermaid.

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just added an amazing film to their library and making it available for us to all experience and re-experience in our own home theaters. There are films of every genre available from scary to drama to family films. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.uphe.com.

Gravitas Ventures is a worldwide film distribution company that connections the global audience of over a billion people. Celebrating 15 years, they have had the honor to collaborate with thousands of artists to share important films. Gravitas was one of the first companies to develop a global network of digital media platforms like Video on Demand with a simple mission to deliver ideas that could bridge filmmakers to audiences. For more of what they have to offer please visit www.gravitasventures.com.

Bonus Features include Deleted Scenes and Cast Reflections on THE KING’S DAUGHTER.

THE KING’S DAUGHTER is a fanciful adventure of love, relationships, mermaids and doing what is right no matter the cost. There are characters that are out for themselves and what serves them best and there are characters who know that that is no way to live.

It is a lovely story and, truth be told, my granddaughter loved it, especially the mermaid as that is what she so loves right now. The mythical beauty comes to the screen, and she could not have been any happier, well, unless it was actually swimming with a mermaid instead of Marie-Josephine.

That is what makes the story so lovely!

In the end – a King, his daughter and a hidden world!

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