The Secret Kingdom – 2023
The Secret Kingdom is a fantasy tale from 2023. It’s quite classic if you think in terms of Narnia, Bridge to Teranithia, or even Where the Wild Things Are. At least as I remember them. We have children or youths discovering a land that is not exactly like ours. Many things happen there that cannot be explained by ordinary means. It’s a story, a tale a legend. In the case of the Secret Kingdom, a quest of sorts takes place. Peter and Verity enter the magical realm of another dimension and Peter is immediately hailed as the King. He, of course, doesn’t have a clue what it means to be king but there is an ancient prophecy that lays it all out. What he’s supposed to do and what he should accomplish.
Verity on the other hand seems to know everything that’s going on and she wants to be king instead. The inhabitants of The Secret Kingdom will not have that of course, since it’s not in the prophecy. This is not a tale of transgenderism or anything like that. I think she’s just a child wanting to play the part she knows better than her older brother. In this new world, they are confronted with puzzles and riddles in their quest to find fulfill the prophecy.
Sets and Environment
The sets and environment are splendid! I like the creatures and the way the story is portrayed. It’s quite CGI generated of course, but that’s fine. We have come a long way with that these days and it’s great to see how well we can make imaginary animals and creatures these days. It’s very easy to watch and quite entertaining even if it might be aimed more at an younger audience than me.
There’s also an underlying theme of handling great loss and grief. But it is so well incorporated into the story that you almost never think about it. It’s not until the very end we get to understand the full truth of the narrative. Why Peter is afraid of everything? And why he, and his sister, are present together in The Secret Kingdom. I like the message sent out and I can easily draw parallels to stories by Astrid Lindgren like Mio in the Land of Faraway and maybe most of all The Brothers Lionheart which deals with similar subjects. It’s a nice children’s fantasy movie but entertaining but adults who are into fantasy as well.
