By Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Since the 2022 teen flick “Royalteen” was so generic, viewer expectations were pretty low for the 2023 spin-off movie “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe” starring Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne as the titular lead. However, with a different director, Ingvild Søderlind, steering the sequel, it turned out to be engaging enough.
Plot overview: Princess Margrethe finds herself in the midst of a scandal when she has to be hospitalized on the night of her prom. While the media speculates about what went wrong, the royal teen struggles to keep things under control, including dealing with a problematic new addiction and her fraught relationship with her parents. On holiday with Denmark’s King and Queen, the princess sees her chance at romance with their handsome young son and the possibility of starting over.
The basic conflict in “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe” is similar to season one of Netflix series “Young Royals” and the two also share a lot of themes in common. It’s the scenic locations, snowy slopes and beautiful wardrobes that make the movie visually pleasing. Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne is splendid as Princess Margrethe, who’s having a hard time fitting with her “normal friends”, who aren’t under constant media scrutiny. From being a confident young woman, to crumbling into a insecure mess, Elli captures different shades of being a teen poignantly. Mathias Storhøi reprises his role as Kalle, the crown Prince of Norway and Ines Høysæter Asserson plays his girlfriend Lena. However, the two are just minor characters this time around.
At 1 hour and 38 minutes, the film is crisp but could have wrapped up ten minutes earlier than the eventual climactic scenes, which were excessively clichéd and provided viewers with a typical romance-movie ending. Considering it’s a story about a girl trying to find her voice, a more effective ending could have been when Margrethe has a heart-to-heart with a friend and the two share a light moment. Regardless, this “Royalteen” sequel is a decent one-time watch for those seeking a teen drama and don’t mind watching the problems of affluent youngsters.
It’s a 6 on 10 from me. Stream the film on Netflix.
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