History Film / ThePrincess2022

* SoftWater: [[ZigzaggedTrope Zigzagged]]. The Princess knocks an attacker out of a high window into the water below; he's later found having washed up on shore, killed either killed by the fall or drowning. But later, the Princess herself falls from a window into the same moat, and is none the worse upon surfacing. (Granted, this window was not as high, but she was mainly saved by PlotArmor.)

* DeliberateValuesDissonance:
** The Princess protests her father betrothing her to Julius, a man she's never even met, and says it's like she's a breeding sow (as he did this to get a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]]). Her father is disappointed, saying she's foolish and selfish for saying so, ordering her to do her duty for her family. It's the kind of retort an actual medieval king might well make when a Princess makes this protest (as so many do in fantasy).

** As some critics have pointed out, in spite of the film's overtly feminist message, it does little to challenge other power structures, such as hereditary monarchy, and no characters really question it.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Music/JoanJett ♫ I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation…♫]]'']]

* ActorIsTheTitleCharacter: "Joey King ''is'' '''[[Main/SpellMyNameWithAThe The]]''' [[TitleDrop Princess]]", as seen on the movie's release poster.

** Most obviously, women can also fight for their family and save themselves when given training.

* DarkActionGirl: Moira, [[BigBad Julius]]' mistress, is equally skilled to the Princess and Linh with use of her ong whip. She's TheBaroness and wears [[EvilWearsBlack dark clothing]], giving both of them a very hard fight.

* DarkActionGirl: Moira, [[BigBad Julius]]' mistress, is equally skilled to the Princess and Linh with use of her [[WhipItGood long whip]]. She's TheBaroness and wears [[EvilWearsBlack dark clothing]], giving both of them a very hard fight.

* WhipItGood: Moira wields a very dangerous whip, using it to kill one man with a sharp stud on the end, then strangles people at other times.

* FeministFantasy: The Princess refuses to comply with feminine norms, secretly training herself to fight and then rejects a marriage which she didn't consent to. After this, she has to fight off her would-be husband who's taken over and won't accept "no" for an answer (which is putting it midly). She's rewarded finally by [[spoiler:her father admitting she proved him wrong, accepting her as a warrior woman and making her his heir, while also saying in the future all Princesses of the realm will be allowed to make these choices.]]

[[Main/RebelliousPrincess A strong and beautiful]] [[TitleDrop princess]] must escape the tower she's holed up in, not only to save her family but also the kingdom from the forces of her sociopathic former betrothed, who is determined to take her father's throne after being disregarded.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[Music/JoanJett I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation…]]'']]

''The Princess'' is an epic fantasy action film from [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios Disney]], and is an Original Film directed by Le-Van Kiet, and written by Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton, starring Creator/JoeyKing (Princess), Creator/DominicCooper (Julius), Creator/VeronicaNgo (Linh), and Creator/OlgaKurylenko (Moira), among many others.

A strong and beautiful princess must escape the tower she's holed up in, not only to save her family, but also the kingdom from the forces of her sociopathic former betrothed, who is determined to take her father's throne after being spurned.

Not to be confused with the documentary, having the same title and released the same year, about Princess Diana.

* ActionGirl: The Princess and Linh, her teacher, are skilled female warriors. In the story they take on dozens of male soldiers (many much larger than them) and beat them handily.
* ActorIsTheTitleCharacter: "Joey King is The Princess", as seen on the movie's release poster.

* WarriorPrincess: The titular heroine is one, as demonstrated throughout the film, ably fighting off the evil prince's henchmen - even kicking one out the window of her tower. Initially her father the king is dismayed by her having trained as a warrior, since it's [[WantedAGenderConformingChild unfeminine to him]]. [[spoiler:He accepts it at the end, seeing how she rescued the entire royal family due to her skills.]]
* WhipItGood: Moira wields a very dangerous whip, using it to kill one man with a sharp stud on the end, then strangles people other times.

* WantedAGenderConformingChild: The king is initially perturbed by his daughter the Princess being taught how to fight without him knowing and her wish to become a knight rather than married off to a prince. After she rescues him and her mother from said prince though he sees the error of his ways, not only declaring that from here on princesses can choose their own path but making her his heir (whereas previously he'd lamented [[HeirClubForMen not having a son to succeed him]].

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Unlike most medieval themed fantasy movies, this film accurately shows that an opponent wearing full plate armor is all but invulnerable to sword slashes. The only recourse is to stab between the joins.

** The Princess protests her father betrothing her to Julius, a man she's never even met, and says it's like she's a breeding sow (as he did this to get a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]]. Her father is disappointed, saying she's foolish and selfish for saying so, ordering her to do her duty for her family. It's the kind of retort an actual medieval king might well make when a Princess makes this protest (as so many do in fantasy).

The film was released directly to Creator/{{Hulu}} in North America and to Creator/DisneyPlus internationally on July 1, 2022.

* SoftWater: The Princess falls from many stories up out of a window off into the water below, and is none the worse upon surfacing.

* ActionDressRip: When she gets a moment to rest, the princess tears off her dress to knee height and pulls off one of the sleeves before she's interrupted.
* ActionGirl: The princess and Linh, her teacher, are skilled female warriors. In the story they take on dozens of male soldiers (many much larger than them) and beat them handily.

* AllAsiansKnowMartialArts: The film's East Asian characters (or [[FantasyCounterpartCulture fantasy equivalent]]) Linh and Khai, her uncle, both know martial arts. Linh instructs the princess (portrayed by a white American) and gives her equal skills.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Julius simply will not take "no" for an answer from the princess, dead set on wedding her to legally take control of her kingdom. He locks her in a tower when she first refuses, later threatening her sister and saying he'd marry ''her'' (a girl of ten or so) instead if she won't, which of course horrifies her.

* ArmorIsUseless: Averted. One of the princess' tougher fights is against a knight in full plate. She can't get through it and tries instead to [[AttackItsWeakPoint pierce the chainmail clad joints]], then finishes the fight by covering him in oil and setting it ablaze. In the courtyard fight, she tells Linh to "Aim for the joints".
* ArrangedMarriage: The princess was engaged to Julius without consent by her father, but she flatly refuses to go along with it. A good thing too, as Julius turns out to be a horrible man.
* AttemptedRape: The princess has one guard attempt to rape her in the first scene. She breaks free of her manacles and kills him and his fellow guard, then escapes. Later on she and Linh save a kitchen maid from other {{mooks}} clearly meaning to rape her too.
* AwesomeButImpractical: One of the guards has a [[HornsOfBarbarism horned helmet]] with [[FacelessMooks slits for eyes]]. Then we see from his perspective, where he completely fails to see the princess right under him because his eye slits are blocking most of his vision. Later, the horns prove detrimental when the princess uses them to twist the helmet around and blind him, then tears it off and impales him with it.
* BallsOfSteel: The princess kicks a GiantMook in the groin but it does nothing.

* BigSisterInstinct: Julius threatens the princess' sister to make her comply. It does not work, and remembering that her sister is counting on her only hardens her resolve.
* BigSisterWorship: Violet, the princess' younger sister, is clearly impressed by her fighting prowess, wanting to fight along with her. The princess has to gently tell her not this time, but promises she'll be trained as a warrior herself later.

* CharacterTitle: It's named after the titular unnamed princess.

* DamselOutOfDistress: The princess frees herself from captivity quickly in the beginning, killing many {{mooks}} that threaten her and escapes several situations where she's in great danger.
* DarkActionGirl: Moira, [[BigBad Julius]]' mistress, is equally skilled to the princess and Linh with use of her [[WhipItGood long whip]]. She's TheBaroness and wears [[EvilWearsBlack dark clothing]], giving both of them a very hard fight.

** The princess protests her father betrothing her to Julius, a man she's never even met, and says it's like she's a breeding sow (as he did this to get a [[HeirClubForMen male heir]]. Her father is disappointed, saying she's foolish and selfish for saying so, ordering her to do her duty for her family. It's the kind of retort an actual medieval king might well make when a princess makes this protest (as so many do in fantasy).

* DualWielding: The princess and Linh both wield two swords at once with great skill.
* EscapeArtist: The princess escapes more than once, from manacles through dislocating her thumb and out of a high tower when the way down is guarded through [[WallCrawl wall climbing]].
* EvenEvilHasStandards: When one of the princess' guards starts [[DudeShesLikeInAComa advancing on her unconscious body]], the other flatly tells him that if he touches her he'll break his face. Of course, he's saving her for Julius, but he seems notably disgusted nonetheless.

* EvilPrince: Julius is a ruthless foreign prince who sneers at the king's ruling with compassion, seizing control over his kingdom. Then he attempts to force the princess into marrying him to legitimize this.

* EyeScream: The princess stabs one of her guards fatally in the eye with a hair pin.

* FeminineMotherTomboyishDaughter: The princess, a tomboy who likes to fight and is well trained in doing so, has a demure ProperLady mother in the queen. Unlike in many examples however, it was her mother who had her trained to fight, quietly supporting her daughter while her father the king is not happy at all when learning about her unfeminine activities.
* FeministFantasy: The princess refuses to comply with feminine norms, secretly training herself to fight and then rejects a marriage which she didn't consent to. After this, she has to fight off her would-be husband who's taken over and won't accept "no" for an answer (which is putting it midly). She's rewarded finally by [[spoiler:her father admitting she proved him wrong, accepting her as a warrior woman and making her his heir, while also saying in the future all princesses of the realm will be allowed to make these choices.]]
* FieryRedhead: The princess has long, wavy red hair and is a passionate, rebellious young woman who refuses to submit when coerced into marriage with a foreign prince, who she fights against.
* GirlInTheTower: The princess is introduced when locked in a tower, which she quickly escapes.

* HeirClubForMen: The reason for the princess being engaged by her father to a foreign prince was so he could have a male heir, since it's made clear that she can't inherit directly from him. [[spoiler:At the end though he changes this after she successfully saves herself and the family from Julius, and she's made his heir.]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Moira uses her whip to nearly strangle the princess and Linh. [[spoiler:In the end, she's hung with it by the princess after overpowering her.]]

* HowWeGotHere: The film starts with the princess in a tower killing her guards and escaping, with one mook saying "you'll never make it all the way below". Flashbacks are then interspersed with the narrative explaining why she was in the tower, who is imprisoning her, and how she learned to fight.
* ImprovisedWeapon: Early on, the princess uses her manacles, a hairpin and large pieces of firewood until she gets her hands on regular weapons. Even afterwards she and her enemies are happy to use whatever they have on hand to get an advantage, including lace, a horned helmet, a necklace of pearls, and a cabbage.
* INeedAFreakingDrink: When the princess finally makes it down to the dungeon, she grabs a mug of beer, drains the whole thing, belches, and says "I needed that." before engaging the mooks she stole it from.
* InterruptedIntimacy: Moira, Julius' mistress, says they should have sex again before he beds the princess that night to consummate their marriage. They start to make out, but are interrupted by the princess' escape before this can go further.
* InTheBack: The princess almost manages to stab Julius through the wall of a secret passage when his back is turned to her, but he stops just out of reach.

* JustInTime: The princess and Linh arrive just as some {{mooks}} of Julius are about to rape a female servant in the kitchens.

* MadeOfIron: The princess is visibly injured several times, even needing to stop and patch up near the middle of the movie, but continues onward. It isn't until the climax when she gets stabbed in the thigh that her injury slows her down, and even then she's able to carry on with a minor limp.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: Linh, the princess' teacher in martial arts, gets stabbed in the climax. It's {{subverted}} though as she lives.
* TheMistress: Moira is Julius' long-term lover, though he's going to marry the princess. She seems fine with that, and he likely can't marry her as she's a commoner.
* {{Mooks}}: Julius' many brutal soldiers who exist to get killed by the princess and Linh.

** It's shown multiple times that the princess' conviction in not marrying isn't ironclad and that she wonders if she ''should'' do her duty for the good of the kingdom, with her leaving Julius at the altar being less a principled stand and more a panic response. Had Julius left it alone, perhaps she could have been convinced to come around, but him taking her family hostage killed any chance of that.
** At one point when the princess expresses this doubt, Linh tells her that Julius would be a monster regardless. If he had been a decent person and took the time to woo her and maybe act a little nicer towards women and minorities, he would have gotten the throne he wanted with far less bloodshed.

* NoNameGiven: The princess, along with her parents, are not called by their names, only the royal titles for each (princess, king and queen). Only her little sister, Princess Violet, is ever named.
* OfCorsetHurts: Linh makes a joke about how painful a corset is after the princess sheds hers.

* ProperlyParanoid: The moment he comes across a guard who apparently "fell out" of the tower, Julius orders his men to secure the princess. Unfortunately, his lieutenant is lazy and just sends up a single merc to check on her, who is fooled by the SleepingDummy.
* RebelliousPrincess: The princess secretly trained in combat without permission by her father the king, refusing to submit when coerced into marrying by Julius, fighting both him and his men.
* RoaringRampageOfRescue: The whole movie is the princess trying to rescue her family from Julius. She manages it halfway until she gets caught, then manages it for real [[spoiler:once she kills him]].
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: The princess does not sit around waiting to be rescued demurely. Instead, using her skill in combat she takes on Julius and his soldiers. Julius himself is a match for her, albeit only after she has already fought her way through a significant fraction of his entire army.
* RunawayBride: The princess refused to marry Julius, leaving him at the altar.
* SleepingDummy: The princess sets one up in her chambers with pillows and the dead guard on watch, which buys her some time.

* SoftWater: The princess falls from many stories up out of a window off into the water below, and is none the worse upon surfacing.

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: The princess kills an enemy archer by throwing her sword at him (albeit from pretty close range).
* TomboyPrincess: The princess prefers to train for combat out in the woods with Linh, her instructor, and wants to become a knight rather than marry a prince.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: The ''entire enemy army'' thinks they're just dealing with some pampered princess..right to the moment she starts killing them in droves.

* TheUsurper: After the princess wouldn't go through with marrying him as her father arranged, Julius took control of the royal castle including taking her prisoner along with her family and tries to coerce her into the marriage to legitimize this. When she fights back, he continues coercing the king and her to obey.
* VirtueIsWeakness: Julius is convinced that kings must rule brutally, and sneers at the princess' father ruling with compassion toward his subjects.
* WallCrawl: The princess climbs up the side of the castle outside twice to escape.
* WantedAGenderConformingChild: The king is initially perturbed by his daughter the princess being taught how to fight without him knowing and her wish to become a knight rather than married off to a prince. After she rescues him and her mother from said prince though he sees the error of his ways, not only declaring that from here on princesses can choose their own path but making her his heir (whereas previously he'd lamented [[HeirClubForMen not having a son to succeed him]].

* WouldHitAGirl: Julius and his {{mooks}} never show any hesitation in harming the princess, her sister Violet nor Linh (a woman who's the princess' teacher in combat).
* WouldHurtAChild: Julius threatens Violet, the princess' younger sister, to get her submission for their marriage, saying if she won't marry him then he'll wed Violet instead (who's ten or so) with [[MaritalRapeLicense all that entails]].

* AnAesop: Two actually. Most obviously, women can also fight for their family and save themselves when given training. Less obviously it was foreign 'outsiders' - whose presence [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Julius]] cited as evidence of weakness - who both gave the Princess the skills to save the kingdom and were willing to teach her. The diversity the King allowed or encouraged saved the kingdom.

* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: Not only does Julius get offended that the Princess refuses to StayInTheKitchen - indeed he seems more upset that she's rude then that she's massacring his guards - he also cites the Asian and African 'outsiders' in the kingdom as another sign of weakness. He also sneers at the king ruling with compassion, feeling a true ruler must be brutal.

* TomboyPrincess: The princess prefers to train for combat out in the woods with Link, her instructor, and wants to become a knight rather than marry a prince.

* NobodyHereButUsStatues: An accidental version. The Princess emerges from a secret passage, coming out directly between the legs of what she things is an empty suit of ceremonial armor. In fact it's an actual knight standing around in ceremonial armor for some reason, and a fight scene ensues.