Genre: Drama/Fantasy
Director: Patty Jenkins
Writer: Jacob Jones
Cast: Natalie Dormer, Mia Wasikowska, Sigourney Weaver, Amy Poehler, John De Lancie, Miranda Cosgrove, Elijah Wood, Dev Patel, Julie Christie, Ian McKellan, Stu Bennett
Plot: Amidst the darkness, a soft yet sinister voice can be heard calling for Odette's name. Odette (Natalie Dormer) slowly awakens from her slumber and to her surprise she finds that she has been transformed into a swan and on a river. Frightened, she demands to know the person responsible for this.
The voice of Baron Von Rothbart (John De Lancie) tells her that she needn't look too far, as he is already here with her. He asks her how she likes her new habitat, but an angered Odette tries to attack him. Rothbart manages to shield himself by using a magic spell and looks at her with little pity. He tells her that she should've thought better than to trust him.
With the wave of his hand and at the command of his voice, Rothbart introduces Odette to an army of swans who swims by and observe their newest companion. He explains that they will be her family for all of eternity.
He heads off to rest for the evening, leaving Odette to wallow in her own tears. Three swans look on in concern and proceed to check on her. They soon introduce themselves as Sandra (Amy Poehler), Claire (Miranda Cosgrove) and Evelyn (Sigourney Weaver) and as they comfort her, they encourage her to tell her story.
In a flashback, it is revealed that Odette was set to marry Rothbart as part of a deal between the king, queen and Rothbart, an intelligent, crafty and rather charming sorcerer. Odette did not wish to marry him however, as she found him rude and abrasive. But she kept silent out of respect.
One night, Odette would find Rothbart working on a magic spell. She would question him on the importance of it, in an attempt to get him to crack.
After denying it and assuring her that nothing is to be worried over, Rothbart snaps and tries to attack Odette. Odette however is able to hold him down long enough to get him to confess his plans to overthrow the monarchy and claim himself as the new king. He would be banished the next day.
Several days later, the king and queen would be found dead much to the devastation of Odette. She would roam the streets for many hours desperately trying to find out what caused the death of her parents before coming across what seemed like a sickly old man. He claimed to know what had occured and said that he would tell her on one condition. That she never tell a soul.
She promises and he reveals himself to be Rothbart, the murderer of her parents. Before she can do anything however, he spits blue mist from his mouth, putting her into a deep sleep.
The flashback ends with Odette admitting the rest is all a blur. But what she did know was that Rothbart cast a spell on her that turned her into a swan. The three swans sympathize with her, having also fallen for Rothbart's act. In fact, all of the swans Odette sees before her have interacted with him in one way or another.
The swans promise to stick together for as long as she remains in the lake and the four swans embrace before setting off for the night.
The next morning across the kingdom of Moscow, the young and handsome Prince Sigmund (Elijah Wood) laments his unwillingness to marry as he finds that he still has his whole life ahead of him. His tutor Wolfgang (Ian McKellan) tries to explain the benefits of marriage, but Sigmund is still convinced his mother Queen Wilfred (Julie Christie) is putting too much on him too soon.
His best friend Benno von Sommerstern (Dev Patel) assures him that life will continue even if he's married. For one thing, he and Sigmund will remain the best of friends. Sigmund then hears his mother call him over so they can make preparations for the costume ball occurring in two days. He obliges, but not before making plans with Benno to hang out at the lake.
That evening, Rothbart is shown by the lake explaining to Odette that she will remain a swan unless the moon shines on the side he stands on the enchanted lake. Odette asks how, if at all, can the spell be broken. Rothbart is reluctant to explain, but says that someone who has never known love is the one to do it.
Suddenly, arrows fly from the sky sending all the swans into a panic. Rothbart disappears leaving no trace of him behind. Odette looks around, frightened and is unable to hear her swan friends call out for her.
All of a sudden, a gust of wind blows through the lake. Odette looks down at the lake and finds that the moon is shining on the lake like Rothbart decreed. As this is occurring, Sigmund and Benno have split up in order to cover more ground. Sigmund soon finds the lake of the swans and prepares to aim his crossbow only to be mesmerized by a beautiful maiden standing in the lake.
He puts down his crossbow and softens his stance towards Odette, wanting to know her better. At first, she is terrified. But after Sigmund promises not to harm her, she explains her story to him. Sigmund vows to help her in whatever way, which is the cue for mysterious laughter coming from Rothbart.
Rothbart and Sigmund briefly duke it out, ending with Odette intervening and Rothbart injuring her arm. As Sigmund goes to check on her, Rothbart reveals one more thing he neglected to tell her. Should he die in any fashion before the spell is broken, she will remain a swan for all of eternity.
Odette tells Sigmund to leave before Rothbart returns, Sigmund obliges but promises to return and break the spell. As they wave farewell, the moonlight fades and Odette becomes a swan once more. Neither of them know that the daughter of Rothbart, Odile (Mia Wasikowska) has been watching the events and is already making plans of her own.
The next morning, Rothbart sets up a force shield around the lake so Odile will have no disturbances as she prepares for the costume ball. To be safe however, he disguises himself as a beggar by using his magic and heads into town so he can talk to local weapons store owner and hired assassin Brody Rommenhire (Stu Bennett).
After explaining the situation, he tasks Brody with killing Odette should she break free from the shield with the promise of inheriting his fortune should he pass on. Brody keeps it ambiguous, saying he doesn't just put his hands on a lady without a strong enough reason and price.
That evening, Odette and her swan friends come up with a plan to break the force shield. Claire worries that it may prove to be dangerous, but Odette assures it that everything will be fine. When Odile comes out, Odette puts her plan into action crying out in pain.
Annoyed, Odile comes over to the lake and is forced to turn off the force shield so she can check Odette’s wing. As she does so, Sandra, Claire, Evelyn sneak away from them without making a sound. As the moonlight casts over them, the three turn into humans and hurry off into town to find three dresses and masks.
Once Odile leaves, Odette transforms into a human and hurries off into town to join her friends. It isn’t long however until she comes across Brody and is forcefully tackled down. Brody expresses his discomfort with the situation but that he was given strict orders. Odette manages to fight back with a few kicks to the shin and runs off at a blistering pace.
At the ball, the prince appears to be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Odette when three more ladies in masks show up. Sandra and Claire go first but the end result in the same due to their personality quirks leaking out at the worst possible time. For Sandra, it’s her chatterbox like tendencies and for Claire, it’s her clumsiness that's making her trip over her dress.
As Evelyn takes her chance, Rothbart and Queen Wilfred meet up and briefly chat, Rothbart claims that he is a changed man and Wilfred puts his word to it. Just before Evelyn can whisper in Sigmund’s ear that he’s about to be duped, Rothbart then introduces the audience to a mysterious blonde haired girl who walks up towards Sigmund holding a swan mask and wearing a shimmering white dress. She introduces herself...as Odette.
Overjoyed by this, Sigmund and ‘Odette’ begin to dance together, her movements graceful as a swan. When the dance is finished, Sigmund declares that Odette will be her bride to a joyous celebration. Rothbart's slow claps however take the air out of the room as he saunters his way towards Sigmund.
Rothbart congratulates Sigmund on his new found marriage but tells him that the girl he was dancing with was not Odette, but his daughter Odile. Wi1th the snap of his fingers, Odile’s blonde hair and dress go black. She smirks at Sigmund as she tells him that the heart is a fool’s friend and he is the biggest fool of all.
Rothbart then comes into contact with Brody and Odette who are still duking it out via his magical powers and reveals to Odette what has happened. When Odette sees Odile kiss Sigmund in the lips, she is devastated and loses her will to fight.
When the magic fades away however, Sigmund pushes Odile away and runs off to find Odette, Benno and Wolfgang following suit. After much searching, Sigmund finds Brody about to cut open Odette's throat with a sword and chases him off. Remorseful, he tries to talk to her but a bitter, tear stricken Odette yells at him for breaking his promise.
By this point, the moon’s light has faded and as such it forces Odette to become a swan again and she flies away, tears flowing down her cheeks. Realizing what he has done, he slumps onto the ground softly crying as Benno and Wolfgang comfort her.
The next day, Rothbart punishes the four swans by cancelling their feed for the next three days. Not only that, Odile has been named the watcher of the swans and will be looking after them until further notice. Odile smugly looks at Odette and tells her that this is a view she can get used to.
Still angered over last night, she bites Odile’s hand and tries to attack her. The other swans restrain her as Odile calls her a ‘psychopath’. When Odile leaves, Odette breaks into more sobs and blames Sigmund for all of this. Evelyn is quick to remind her that Rothbart played a trick on them all and suggests forgiving Sigmund.
Odette isn’t sure at first and claims she needs time to heal. As she swims away, Evelyn worries that it may take weeks for her to truly recover. Sandra tries to keep some hope alive, but all the swans agree with Evelyn’s grim prognosis.
Inside Sigmund’s room, Sigmund stares at the wall forlorn when his mother enters and sits right beside him where she reveals that she knew Rothbart was a liar to begin with and refuses to go forth with the marriage of him and Odile.
Wilfred then comforts her son, letting him know that there will be others like Odette. Sigmund doubts it, calling her unlike anyone she has ever seen or known before comparing her beauty and grace to that of a swan. He realizes his promise to Odette and tells his mother that he will return to the lake where he first saw her.
Wilfred is reluctant at first, but after hearing her son’s pleas gives him her permission. But warns him of one thing: Rothbart will have many tricks up his sleeves should he find him. She encourages him to take his most prized sword just in case.
That night, Odette heads towards the edge of the river. This time however there is no moonlight, so she must remain a swan. Sigmund can be seen wandering the forest looking for the lake, sword in hand in case Rothbart comes along.
Sigmund is overjoyed to find the lake but finds that Odette has remained a swan. He gives a passionate apology and declaration of love which seems to touch Odette's heart. Unfortunately for him, Rothbart has been hearing and reminds him of his act of love to Odile.
With Sigmund ineligable to break the spell, he decides to fight Rothbart in order to prove his love. The two proceed to duel via swords for a bit until Rothbart plays a trick on Sigmund, teleporting from his front to his back and doing so to disorientate him.
The swans all watch in nervousness, awaiting to see the outcome. Soon, Rothbart captures Sigmund in magic chains and squeezes the life out of him. When Odette sees this, she tries to cheer on for Sigmund, slowly making him stronger.
However, it is only after a declaration of her love to Sigmund that he breaks free. Desperate, Rothbart tries to fight back, but Sigmund corners him to his force wall. Left with no choice, Rothbart transforms into his other form: That of an owl like creature and scratches away at Sigmund with animalistic fury.
Bloodied and bruised, Sigmund goes down hard onto the ground as Rothbart breaks open the force field so he can drown Sigmund into the lake. Odette looks on in horror as Rothbart flies up and towards the lake, ready to drop him a moments notice.
Odette cries out, begging Rothbart that if he is to die that she shall die to. The three other swans urge her not to, but Odette says she has no other choice. If they cannot be together here, they will be together in heaven.
Willing to grant Odette's wish, he turns her into a human and drops Sigmund in the river. As they both plunge underwater, they stare into each others eyes and realize they must return to land. Odette is barely able to make it, being forced to carry a now lifeless Sigmund. She looks at his love, tears rolling down her eyes. Softly kissing his lips, she lays silently next to him and passes away.
Rothbart flies down and reverts to his normal form, satisfied with himself. What he doesn't realize that Odette's sacrifice was enough to break the spell and he soon finds a group of angry maidens ready to take on him for everything he's done.
Before they can get their hands on him, he reverts to being an owl and flies away, never to be seen again. The three former swans sit beside the bodies of Odette and Sigmund, mourning their death but praising their love as true.
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