Parents' Guide to The Marsh King's Daughter

This thriller from director Neil Burger is more emotionally resonant than the typical cat-and-mouse drama, although Ridley feels miscast. Usually in movies, when a young woman feels like she's being stalked, the villain is definitely dastardly -- à la Max Cady or Michael Myers. But The Marsh King's Daughter audaciously offers a big twist on that scenario: What if the parent who adored you, lavished attention on you, made you feel special, and was your only friend, who raised you to be strong, smart, and independent -- and truly saw you -- what if he turned out to be a criminal? How would you reconcile those emotions? How would you present yourself to the world? Would you pursue the skills that you learned from that parent, or would you hide them, not wanting any memory?

While the premise of The Marsh King's Daughter is rich with the possibility for how introspectively deep the story could go, it doesn't manage to get there. Perhaps that's because Ridley, 31, seems too young to have her own tween daughter, or perhaps it's because the steely resolve she showed as Rey in the Star Wars movies just isn't enough here. On the other hand, Mendelsohn is perfect as an outdoorsman who's teaching his daughter how to be a fierce hunter. His spot-on performance works in a dual sense, with the audience perceiving it just like Helena does: The delivery that reads as confident, protective heroism to a child comes across as narcissistic darkness to an adult. For anyone who's interested in watching for intense escapism, it's like catching fleeting sightings of a deer running through the woods, without ever being able to get the full view. But for those who have complicated or traumatic family histories, it could feel more like an arrow through the heart.