Duchess is a 2024 British crime movie directed by Neil Marshall. It is a revenge action thriller, featuring a female protagonist portrayed by Charlotte Kirk. The film received both a limited box office release, and generally poor critical reception.
Plot
Scarlett is a low-level thief who, while working as a pickpocket in a nightclub, falls for the suave Rob. Rob, it turns out, is a diamond smuggler working with Danny and Baraka, selling a massive diamond to queen-fence Charlie. Following Rob's death at the hands of his fellow smugglers, Scarlett becomes known as "Duchess", intent on a bloody revenge.
Duchess had a limited release to theatres in August 2024, achieving a box office total of $43,355. It was released to video the same month.[6]
Critical reception
The film holds a metacritic score of 22 denoting reviews as "Generally Unfavorable".[1] In a two-star review for the Guardian, critic Leslie Felperin stated that Kirk looks good in Lycra but the movie is "tired" and does not engage the audience.[2] Brian Tallerico for RogerEbert.com slated the movie, stating not only is it "overlong" but it feels "twice as long" again.[3]
Although featuring a female protagonist in the lead role, a review in Screen Rant stated the film "fails to subvert sexist tropes", with its gender politics being less progressive than movies from 30-40 years previously.[5]
