Millie Bobby Brown has been playing strong female protagonists right from the start of her career. And from the moment Netflix announced Damsel, it became abundantly clear that the project needed a star who was willing to invest her heart and soul into a demanding role. The reason being- a big part of the movie focused on Brown and Brown alone, while also tackling wildly challenging emotional and physical performance beats. Nonetheless, it seems, all that effort truly paid off.

This week, as Netflix shared its report on its shows for the first half of 2024, Damsel came out with massive viewership numbers.

Netflix recently reported that British shows in its library have brought the streaming giant great success in terms of viewership. While shows like Bridgerton, Fool Me Once, Baby Reindeer and The Gentleman became the four most-watched shows on Netflix, on the film front, one of the most-viewed titles in the six-month period was Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel. The Juan Carlos Fresnadillo-directed show earned 143.8 million on the streaming platform as per the report from Variety.

Earlier this year, Damsel touched down in Netflix’s Most Popular Top 10 Films segment, and Brown even shared the milestone on her social media. And that was not all; the movie spent six weeks on the Global Top 10 Films list and enjoyed the biggest week of viewership as a Netflix release since Knives Out: Glass Onion. However, that is not to say that Damsel was without its controversies.

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Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel was majorly critiqued for being too ‘woke’ and for ruining a traditional fairy tale, even before its release.

Damsel tackled many stereotypes and clichés commonly found in fairy tales, where princesses often rely on their male counterparts for rescue. While this new take stood out for some fans, others deemed it preachy and slammed the movie for spoiling cherished traditions with “woke” culture. However, the director of Damsel defended this approach. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo argued that Damsel represented a crucial aspect of realism for the modern audience, despite its fantasy origins.

Fresnadillo, during an interview with Tudum, urged viewers to approach the film with an “open mind". He added, "It’s a fantasy, but grounded in reality”. Even Rachel Zegler’s Snow White faced similar criticism from Disney fans. Still, seeing its viewership, it appears that Millie Bobby Brown’s Damsel has successfully shut down the naysayers.

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