Sundance 2022: The Princess Review

This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.

In a story that has been overly documented, both in real-time as the events themselves as well as years after a life was extinguished prematurely, The Princess seeks to show the narrative of Princess Diana’s entire journey with the Royal Family through archival footage that subtly holds a mirror up to its audience and poses the question of just how involved was the public in the gradual deterioration of someone who challenged authority in a positive and progressive manner but ultimately paid the steepest price for doing so.

The Princess constructs the media and mass audience’s perception of Diana’s courtship, engagement, and marriage to Prince Charles with news reporting and paparazzi footage, there is a strange excitement that manifests as the people clamor for someone that resembles themselves but who resides in a position of power and is using it for the good of others. As this feeling begins to swell, the focus quickly shifts towards a clear divide of those who believe they know the truth based on what they have read or seen which is exacerbated by talking heads on television that helps create an incorrect narrative plastered with misinformation and bias thrust upon someone who never intended to assume this much popularity. Even more astounding is how the footage reveals Diana’s defiance to pomp, circumstance, expectations, and more importantly the media’s insatiable appetite for more and its erosion over time to simply trying to hide or navigate around it. Typically, these feelings are resigned to being internal, however, the footage captures moments in Diana’s life where this mounting pressure takes a physical toll.

The Princess allows for all of the publicity machinery to become exposed for its audience in a way that forces the viewer to hear and see people devouring a truly unique spirit amidst pleas for it cease. The toughest scenes were told through the lens of the paparazzi as they only grew more empowered with each picture taken or personal question asked. The ickiness of this reality, one that most participated in willingly, is hammered home through the eventual oversaturation of Diana and the commonwealth desire for her and her family to be left alone which falls on the deaf ears of the media who see only an opportunity. It’s an early blueprint for how the machine is still running today, however, it came at the cost of a life that was cut short.

The Princess offers nothing new in terms of information but shows a familiar story from a sobering perspective that should convict its audience nonetheless.

*still courtesy of Sundance

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