Was there a need for “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe,” a sequel, spin-off, or whatever one wishes to call it? The first “Royalteen” movie, which focused on Kalle and Lena’s love story, was a somewhat fresh take on the rom-com genre but was average at best. Margrethe had come across as annoying and not complex, so what was the incentive to make a completely new movie around her? We remember that in the previous movie, Margrethe was called “Princess Paranoia.” We saw an anxious princess in this movie, but where were the schemes and blackmails that were her personality in the previous film? Also, for someone so anxious and self-destructive, where was her therapy, and why was such a less-than-surface-level talk with her parents the solution to all her problems? Are we supposed to enjoy this movie? Are we supposed to gauge a message from it, as in, what feelings are we supposed to leave the movie experience with? Maybe other viewers can answer this better than us, so here is a detailed summary of “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe.”
Spoilers Alert
Plot Summary: What Is Margrethe’s Problem?
The “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe” starts from the point where the first movie left us. Margrethe meets Prince Gustav at the prom and takes some drugs with him, which he records on video. Margrethe smashes his phone when she thinks he is about to post it, and when she leaves the room, she passes out completely. Margrethe is taken to the hospital, and the doctors find some drugs and alcohol in her system. Margrethe’s parents ask her not to repeat such an incident again.
Margrethe’s life resumes, and she goes back to school. Her brother and Lena are going strong and just being extremely annoying with their PDA all over the place. Then there is Ingrid, Margrethe’s best friend, who wants her to get a boyfriend as soon as possible. It sounds like general girl talk, but Margrethe starts feeling the pressure of it all. She feels pushed into dating someone, though she doesn’t really seem ready to. At another party, Margrethe gets a little cozy with one of her friends, Arnie, who is a DJ. He kisses her, but when Margrethe backs off, Arnie is embarrassed and apologizes for misreading her. However, we believe that he read her just fine and that Margrethe is just feeling a little overwhelmed by things. Either way, Margrethe meets Gustav and asks him whether the video has been deleted, and he says that it could be if Margrethe agrees to hang out with him. The insinuation is clear, and Margrethe leaves the club.
Next, the royal family goes on vacation, and Margrethe gets along really well with Prince Alexander. We doubt Margrethe likes him, but he checks all the boxes. He is kind and good-looking, and he seems to share some of Margrethe’s own feelings about things. Seeing it as a hint, Margrethe makes a move on him, but that ends badly for two reasons. The first is that Alexander just saw Margrethe in a sisterly way. He was spending time with her because he liked her company, not because he was making a move on her. The second reason is that you should not corner someone in a bathroom. Never assume consent that way. A humiliated Margrethe goes to meet Ingrid and lashes out at her for the pressure she puts on her and calls her stupid. Ingrid, who has had enough, asks Margrethe to go if she wants to. What Margrethe ends up doing is not just reckless but simply nonsensical and a cry for help. She met Gustav because he texted her that he was around. When she confronts him about what he wants for deleting the video and he continues to answer sketchily, she blows up at him for being a predator. Next, Margrethe, drunk out of her mind, hails a random man on the road and asks to sleep with him. Margrethe must be a lucky girl because the man is a decent person and refuses to take advantage of her. He lets her crash at his place, and Margrethe quietly leaves the next morning. Arnie drops her off at her place and finds the pills she takes, but Margrethe is defensive about them. Arnie doesn’t push the matter, but the ordeal is far from over. Gustav, in his petty rage, has posted the video of Margrethe online.
Ending Explained: How Does Margrethe Get Over Her Mental Health Issues?
Back in Norway, Margrethe prepares to give an apology to the public but breaks down in tears due to the stress of her actions. She finally confronts her father for having an affair, and that is when her father reveals to her that he does not have a “mistress” but a boyfriend, Martin, who is dying of cancer. Margrethe wonders whether this is why her mother has anxiety, but Queen Sofia just replies that they will take care of themselves. She needed to say more. Sofia needed to directly address her anxiety and ask Margrethe whether she needed any help instead of the half-baked, vague answer she gave. However, this conveniently resolves something inside Margrethe, and she confidently faces the press. When she goes back to school, she is a different person who is a lot more at ease with things. She makes up with Arnie, Ingrid, and even Lena, whom she accepts as the future queen.
At home, Margrethe cleans out her secret stash of drugs and pills. She seems like a completely changed person just because she heard her mother say on the bridge that they are royals who cannot do whatever they want. This implies that she has learned how to take care of her family while keeping away from the pressure of outside appearances. When Martin dies, Margrethe encourages her father to go to his funeral. The old Margrethe would have never said that. At the end of “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe,” she even helps Arnie with something, though we don’t understand what this sudden development means. Arnie has always been a confident boy and getting stage fright right before he opened for Tos, a famous singer, felt a bit off. But Margrethe encourages him to go for it and even gets on stage, singing a bit herself, to help him in his act. Margrethe kisses him on stage, sealing their relationship and marking the start of a new Margrethe who wants to live life to the fullest.
Final Thoughts: What Doesn’t Work For The Film?
Mental health is a joke for the makers of “Royalteen: Princess Margrethe,” but we could have looked past it (as we do for a lot of content online because what other choice is there?) if the film had been entertaining. It was an unnecessary movie about a girl doing unnecessary things but refusing to get the necessary help, even at the end. The first “Royalteen” movie at least tried to be interesting, but this one just took us for granted, and we are too exasperated to care. Our advice would be to skip it. If fans of the previous “Royalteen” movie think of watching it to know what happened to Margrethe, just tell them that she cleans up her act. This is enough information, and you need not put yourself through 100 minutes of this movie to know this fact.
