Film Review

The Marsh King’s Daughter (2023) — an intriguing tale with unfulfilled potential

A woman seeks revenge against the man who kidnapped her mother.

The Marsh King’s Daughter opens with an idyllic underwater journey through a forest stream where we find 12-year-old Helena (Brooklynn Prince) blissfully afloat, her face dotted with tattoos. But the dream ends when her father, Jacob (Ben Mendelsohn), gently pulls her back to dry land for another lesson in wilderness survival.

Deep within the secluded forests of Upper Michigan (recreated in the wilds of Ontario, Canada), Helena and her parents forge an existence reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe’s, nestled in a rustic log cabin far removed from the trappings of modern society. Helena, homeschooled by her father, has mastered the art of survival, adept at hunting, trapping, and fishing. Her hand-stitched garments exude an air of rugged practicality, complemented by intricate tattoos etched by her father’s hand, a symbolic mark of possession. Yet, this idyllic tableau is marred by Helena’s distant, taciturn — and unnamed — mother (Caren Pistorius), whose attempts to…