Secret Society of Second-Born Royals (2020)

A Disney+ original from the autumn of 2020, in which a rebellious princess of the invented kingdom of Illyria discovers that her migraines are actually superpowers and is conscripted into a secret order of second-born royals who protect the world between coronations. Anna Mastro directs with the brisk efficiency of a television pilot that never got its series order, and the film carries the unmistakable scent of a franchise pitch that was politely declined. The ensemble is assembled with evident care: an Asian-American lead, a Black prince, a Malagasy prince, a mixed-heritage supporting cast. The camera never remarks on any of it, which is either admirable restraint or simply the baseline expectation of a 2020 Disney production. Both can be true.

The film's mild political conscience surfaces in its villain, who wishes to abolish the monarchy so that Illyrians might be citizens instead of subjects, and in the new queen's closing pledge to install a parliament. This is palace intrigue dressed as democratization, and it is resolved with a fistfight and a miniaturized containment chamber. A female director, a rebellious princess, a Queen Regent, a Crown Princess, and a scheming female antagonist round out the matriarchal furniture, none of it argued with any force. The lessons imparted concern teamwork and friendship, delivered with the gentle sincerity of a school assembly. Nobody ascends a pulpit. Nobody is asked to examine a structural injustice. The bees do most of the emotional labor.

What remains is a competent, forgettable diversion that holds up just long enough to justify its own existence and not a minute more. It is not offensive. It is not important. It is a Tuesday evening with a subscription you forgot to cancel, and there is a certain honesty in that. The classification is straightforward, the cultural footprint negligible, and the sequel hook dangling with the quiet desperation of a jet waiting on a runway for passengers who will never board.