The King's Daughter (2022)

*The King's Daughter* plunges viewers into the opulent yet perilous world of 17th-century France, where King Louis XIV, brought to life by Pierce Brosnan, embarks on a relentless and morally dubious quest for immortality. Driven by a desperate fear of death, the Sun King orchestrates the capture of a magnificent mermaid, believing her life force holds the key to eternal youth. This grand, yet ethically fraught, endeavor is further complicated by the unexpected arrival of his illegitimate daughter, Marie-Josèphe (Kaya Scodelario), a spirited and independent young woman who has been banished to a convent and now finds herself entangled in the court's dangerous secrets. Marie-Josèphe's discovery of the captive mermaid in a hidden grotto ignites a profound internal conflict, forcing her to choose between loyalty to her powerful father and the compassionate protection of an innocent, magical creature. As she forms an unexpected and tender bond with the mythical being, the film explores themes of freedom, sacrifice, and the corrupting influence of power, all set against a backdrop of royal intrigue and burgeoning romance. Her growing affection for the mermaid, alongside a blossoming love interest, sets her on a collision course with the King, threatening to unravel his meticulously planned path to eternal life and challenging the very foundation of his reign. *The King's Daughter* belongs on a list of "Best Sean McNamara Movies" primarily for its sheer ambition, scale, and the significant opportunity it represented in his directorial career. While McNamara has a prolific body of work, much of it in family-friendly or more modest productions, *The King's Daughter* stands out as his most high-profile and visually grand endeavor to date. Boasting an impressive international cast including Pierce Brosnan, William Hurt, and Kaya Scodelario, and tackling a fantastical period epic with significant special effects and intricate production design, it showcased McNamara's capability to helm a major studio-level feature. Despite its challenging post-production and delayed release, the film represents a substantial leap in production scale and a foray into a high-stakes genre for the director, marking it as a unique and arguably one of his most important, if not always perfectly executed, achievements.