The Royal Treatment (2022)
Directed by Rick Jacobson
No — The Royal Treatment is not woke, scoring 18 out of 100 on our wokeness meter.
The Royal Treatment arrives as a Netflix confection from 2022, in which a Manhattan hairdresser named Izzy cuts the hair of a visiting prince and, through the ancient mechanics of the genre, ends up in his fictional kingdom doing the bridal party's makeup.
Consciousness Markers
Izzy is an outspoken, self-employed hairdresser who refuses to be deferential, and Lauren explicitly prefers building her business to marrying a man she barely knows. The film gently endorses female independence and career autonomy, though it still resolves through a conventional prince-sweeps-heroine-off-her-feet ending.
Mena Massoud, an Egyptian-Canadian actor, is cast as Prince Thomas, and the supporting cast is largely drawn from New Zealand's diverse talent pool, including Pacific Islander and Māori performers. The diversity is present but largely unremarked upon, functioning as colorblind casting rather than a thematic statement.
The landlord Doug is a petty villain who extorts Izzy and neglects his building's wiring, and the plot repeatedly valorizes charity to orphans and 'the commoners' over royal wealth. The critique is soft and individualized rather than systemic, but a mild eat-the-rich sentiment runs through the royal-debt and donation subplots.
There is a light didactic streak in Thomas's speeches about doing more for the commoners and the orphanage donation sequence, but the messaging stays subordinate to the romance and never becomes a sermon.
There are no LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, or themes anywhere in the film. The romance is entirely heterosexual and the subplot of Lauren's reluctance to marry is framed around business ambition, not sexuality.
Race is never addressed, examined, or made a subject of the narrative. The fictional kingdom of Lavania and its class dynamics are framed entirely around wealth and duty, not racial identity.
There is no environmental or climate-related content in the film whatsoever.
The film makes no commentary on body image, size, or physical appearance beyond conventional rom-com beauty standards.
No characters are depicted as neurodivergent, and the topic is never raised.
The film is set in a wholly fictional present-day kingdom and makes no claims about real historical events.
Why it received this score
The Royal Treatment arrives as a Netflix confection from 2022, in which a Manhattan hairdresser named Izzy cuts the hair of a visiting prince and, through the ancient mechanics of the genre, ends up in his fictional kingdom doing the bridal party's makeup. The kingdom is Lavania. The prince is Thomas. There is a wedding to a woman named Lauren who, in a development the film treats with surprising calm, would also prefer not to marry him. Everyone is agreeable. Nothing is at stake. The whole affair unfolds with the smooth, frictionless quality of a hotel breakfast buffet.
The production was shot in New Zealand, and the supporting cast reflects the local talent pool, Pacific Islander and Maori performers among them, though the film never remarks on any of it. Mena Massoud, an Egyptian-Canadian, plays the prince. This is colorblind casting in its purest form: diversity as ambient fact, not argument. The progressive content, such as it is, lives elsewhere. Izzy is a self-employed woman who speaks her mind and refuses to be deferential, and Lauren states plainly that she would sooner build a business than marry a stranger. Both women get what they want. The film's mild class sympathies surface through a grasping landlord, a neglected rewiring job, and repeated donations to orphans, none of which amounts to a systemic critique. Charity, not revolution.
There are no queer characters, no engagement with race as a subject, no environmental themes, no commentary on bodies or minds. The messaging about commoners and duty stays firmly subordinate to the kissing. This is a competent, weightless romance that gestures at independence before surrendering to the horse. A modest specimen, with barely any cultural static at all.
Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm
Synopsis
Isabella runs her own salon and isn’t afraid to speak her mind, while Prince Thomas runs his own country and is about to marry for duty rather than love. When Izzy and her fellow stylists get the opportunity of a lifetime to do the hair for the royal wedding, she and Prince Thomas learn that taking control of their own destiny requires following their hearts.
Questions about The Royal Treatment
Is The Royal Treatment woke?
No — The Royal Treatment is not woke, scoring 18 out of 100 on our wokeness meter. That earns it a verdict of Ultra Based.
Does The Royal Treatment have any woke elements?
2 of the 10 markers register at 30 or above, led by Feminist Agenda (35) and Representation Casting (30). On Feminist Agenda: Izzy is an outspoken, self-employed hairdresser who refuses to be deferential, and Lauren explicitly prefers building her business to marrying a man she barely knows.
How does The Royal Treatment compare to other 2022 movies?
It ranks #93 of the 223 films from 2022 we've scored; their average is 22. The wokest is Bros (92).
How is the Woke Score calculated?
An AI-assisted process researches the film and its reception, scores it 0–100 on ten markers, then combines those into one 0–100 Woke Score. It measures a specific set of 2020s cultural themes, not film quality.