# Damsel (2018 film)
**Damsel** is a 2018 American comedy Western written and directed by David and Nathan Zellner, starring [Robert Pattinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-pattinson) as Samuel Alabaster, a pioneer who crosses the [American frontier](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-frontier) around 1870 to marry his beloved Penelope ([Mia Wasikowska](https://www.edgepedia.org/mia-wasikowska)), accompanied by a drunkard calling himself Parson Henry (David Zellner) and a miniature horse named Butterscotch.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/) • [2](https://www.starz.com/us/en/movies/damsel-67694) The film premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and then competed for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale, before a limited United States theatrical release on June 22, 2018, through Magnolia Pictures.[3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/damsel) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Directors and writers | David Zellner and Nathan Zellner, who also act in the film (David as Parson Henry, Nathan as Rufus Cornell)[5](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/50/26077-damsel) |
| Cast | Robert Pattinson (Samuel Alabaster), Mia Wasikowska (Penelope), David Zellner, Nathan Zellner, Joseph Billingiere, Robert Forster[5](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/50/26077-damsel) |
| Setting | The Wild West, circa 1870[2](https://www.starz.com/us/en/movies/damsel-67694) |
| Festival run | Premiered at Sundance 2018; competed for the Golden Bear at the Berlinale[3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/damsel) |
| Release | Limited theatrical release June 22, 2018; streaming September 18, 2018; distributor Magnolia Pictures[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel) |
| Runtime and rating | 113 minutes; rated R for some violence, language, sexual material, and brief graphic nudity[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel) |
| Reception | Metascore 63 from 32 critic reviews; 67% on the Tomatometer from 118 reviews; gross United States box office $282.8K[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel) |
## Spoilers
### Plot and structure
Samuel [Alabaster](https://www.edgepedia.org/alabaster), described in promotional synopses as an affluent pioneer, arrives in a small [Pacific Northwest](https://www.edgepedia.org/pacific-northwest) town in the 1870s to rescue Penelope, who he says has been kidnapped and taken prisoner.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html) He enlists a preacher named Henry, who is not actually a parson: in the film's opening scene, a despondent missionary ([Robert Forster](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-forster)) hands his cassock, Bible, and identity to a vagrant (David Zellner) and walks off into the desert.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html) • [7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/damsel/) Samuel's plan is to ambush the supposed kidnappers, free Penelope, propose with a garnet ring, and have Parson Henry perform the marriage on the spot.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html)
**The mid-film turn.** With Penelope's introduction about halfway through, the film shifts gears and becomes, in Christy Lemire's description, a totally different movie, darker and sadder while keeping its languid pacing.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damsel-2018) Penelope turns out not to be the precious flower Samuel has painted her to be: she drinks, curses, smokes a pipe, fires a shotgun at strangers who come near her, and does not need saving, least of all by a man.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damsel-2018) [The Atlanta Journal-Constitution](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlanta-journal-constitution)'s review describes her as a self-possessed woman making her own choices, with no patience for the posturing of Samuel or of Rufus Cornell (Nathan Zellner), a mountain man who is one of the brothers Samuel names as her kidnappers.[9](https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/movies/damsel-deconstructs-westerns-with-mixed-results/joHvVnq9Ww5JkxKCQoVenI/) Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post interpreted the character as a stand-in for generations of women who have always faced the threat of rescue, or at least of being altered for their own benefit.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html)
## Genre approach and style
The Zellners, Austin, Texas-based filmmakers whose earlier features include *Goliath* (2008), *Kid-Thing* (2012), and *Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter* (2014), use the Western's conventions as material to overturn rather than follow.[9](https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/movies/damsel-deconstructs-westerns-with-mixed-results/joHvVnq9Ww5JkxKCQoVenI/) • [3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/damsel) Reviewers placed the film in a revisionist lineage alongside *McCabe & Mrs. Miller*, *Dead Man*, and *[Meek's Cutoff](https://www.edgepedia.org/meeks-cutoff)*, while noting the absurdist tone of the [Coen brothers](https://www.edgepedia.org/coen-brothers) in its humor.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html) The brothers work with deliberate pacing that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described as simultaneously frustrating, wringing humor, and allowing room to take in the natural vistas.[9](https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/movies/damsel-deconstructs-westerns-with-mixed-results/joHvVnq9Ww5JkxKCQoVenI/)
The production team included cinematographer Adam Stone and the Austin band The Octopus Project, whose score uses banjo, guitar, saw, fiddle, and flute in what the Viennale program called neo-country fashion and the Washington Post called a boldly non-period musical score.[5](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/50/26077-damsel) • [3](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/damsel) • [6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html) Pattinson's Samuel sings a cowboy ballad called "Honeybun", a musical number the directors developed with The Octopus Project.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damsel-2018) • [10](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2018-06-24-david-zellner-and-nathan-zellner-in-conversation-on-robert-pattinson-mia-wasikowska-cowboy-ballads-and-the-complexity-to-the-characters-for-damsel-feature-story-by-anne-katrin-titze) [Butterscotch](https://www.edgepedia.org/butterscotch), the miniature horse Samuel brings as a wedding present, became a noted element of the film's visual comedy.[6](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html) • [11](https://thefilmstage.com/damsel-interview-zellner-robert-pattinson-sundance-2018/)
## Production
David Zellner said the script's first draft was written about a decade before release, and that the brothers wrote it with no idea of budget in mind, just what made for a good story.[12](https://www.austinmonthly.com/the-zellner-brothers-ride-again/) Obtaining financing was, by his account, more trying than the production itself; he told an Austin Film Society audience that despite the star power of Pattinson and Wasikowska it was a miracle the film ever got made, calling the process brutal and exhausting.[12](https://www.austinmonthly.com/the-zellner-brothers-ride-again/) • [13](https://cinapse.co/2018/06/damsel-zellner-bros-reveal-their-newest/) The brothers had worked with Pattinson and Wasikowska's shared history in mind: the two actors were old friends who had appeared in a film together before, and the directors used limited rehearsals to keep the performances fresh.[11](https://thefilmstage.com/damsel-interview-zellner-robert-pattinson-sundance-2018/)
## Reception
Critical response was generally favorable but divided on the film's second half. On Metacritic it scored 63, based on 32 critic reviews, with 19 positive, 10 mixed, and 3 negative; user ratings averaged 4.9 out of 10 from 44 ratings.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/) Rotten Tomatoes recorded 67% on the Tomatometer from 118 reviews, with a critics consensus praising the film's humor and unexpected twists while noting that its stately pace may frustrate impatient viewers; the audience Popcornmeter stood at 52%.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel)
**Praise and criticism.** [Entertainment Weekly](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment-weekly) gave the film 91, calling it both ambitious and fun despite clunky morals and awkward pacing; the [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) awarded 88 for a journey in which nearly every expectation fails to land as anticipated.[14](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/critic-reviews/) Detractors focused on the structure after the midpoint: [The Hollywood Reporter](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-hollywood-reporter)'s Todd McCarthy found the weak second half terribly self-conscious, and the San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle called the film a 113-minute mistake, though he allowed it a good opening.[1](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/) Slant Magazine compared the midpoint rupture to *Psycho* filtered through a feminist scrim, but judged that the script did not take Penelope seriously enough to push the narrative forward.[7](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/damsel/) Several reviews singled out the performances: Wasikowska's Penelope was described as extremely firm and decisive yet capable of tenderness, a character the Common Sense Media reviewer called a rarity in the Western genre, while Pattinson was credited with comic timing and a willingness to let his character look silly.[15](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/damsel) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel)
The film grossed $282.8K at the United States box office during its limited theatrical run.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel)
## Note on the 2024 film
A separate film also titled *[Damsel](https://www.edgepedia.org/damsel-2024-film)*, a dark fairy-tale adventure starring [Millie Bobby Brown](https://www.edgepedia.org/millie-bobby-brown) and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, was released by Netflix on March 8, 2024; it is unrelated to the Zellners' Western.[16](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-03-08/damsel-millie-bobby-brown-ni-princesa-ni-dragona.html)
## References
1. [Damsel Reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/)
2. [Watch Damsel Online, STARZ](https://www.starz.com/us/en/movies/damsel-67694)
3. [Damsel, Viennale](https://www.viennale.at/en/films/damsel)
4. [Damsel, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/damsel)
5. [Damsel, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival](https://www.kviff.com/en/programme/film/50/26077-damsel)
6. [Finally, a western in which the damsel doesn't need saving, The Washington Post (Ann Hornaday, June 28, 2018)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/finally-a-western-in-which-the-damsel-doesnt-need-saving/2018/06/28/4df45d8e-74aa-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html)
7. [Review: Damsel, Slant Magazine (Steve Macfarlane, February 20, 2018)](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/damsel/)
8. [Damsel movie review & film summary, RogerEbert.com (Christy Lemire, June 22, 2018)](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/damsel-2018)
9. ['Damsel' deconstructs Westerns with mixed results, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Katie Walsh, June 29, 2018)](https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/movies/damsel-deconstructs-westerns-with-mixed-results/joHvVnq9Ww5JkxKCQoVenI/)
10. [David Zellner and Nathan Zellner in conversation on Robert Pattinson, Mia Wasikowska, cowboy ballads and Damsel, Eye For Film (Anne-Katrin Titze)](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/feature/2018-06-24-david-zellner-and-nathan-zellner-in-conversation-on-robert-pattinson-mia-wasikowska-cowboy-ballads-and-the-complexity-to-the-characters-for-damsel-feature-story-by-anne-katrin-titze)
11. [Zellner Brothers on Deconstructing the Genre and Creating a Mythic, Humorous Western with 'Damsel', The Film Stage (Jordan Raup, February 5, 2018)](https://thefilmstage.com/damsel-interview-zellner-robert-pattinson-sundance-2018/)
12. [The Zellner Brothers Ride Again, Austin Monthly (Jason Heid, July 2018)](https://www.austinmonthly.com/the-zellner-brothers-ride-again/)
13. [DAMSEL: Zellner Bros Reveal Their Newest, Cinapse (Rod Machen, June 30, 2018)](https://cinapse.co/2018/06/damsel-zellner-bros-reveal-their-newest/)
14. [Damsel critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/damsel/critic-reviews/)
15. [Damsel, Parents' Guide & Movie Review, Common Sense Media (Jeffrey Anderson)](https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/damsel)
16. ['Damsel': Millie Bobby Brown, ni princesa ni dragona, El País (March 8, 2024)](https://elpais.com/cultura/2024-03-08/damsel-millie-bobby-brown-ni-princesa-ni-dragona.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Action and adventure films (individual works) › Westerns, 1980 onward*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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