BACKGROUND
In 2020, something monumental happened in the world. Nobody likes talking about it, nobody likes thinking about it, but it was a shared experience for everyone. I am, of course, talking about the COVID-19 pandemic.
The pandemic shaped our lives in different ways, but I’m not about to get into how it affected people and the devastating consequences it had. What I’m talking about is how the pandemic shaped our viewing habits and what the consequence was for the media companies, and television and film industries.
We were all told to stay at home in 2020. Some people lost their jobs, children were being homeschooled, and there were no diversions outside, like cinemas, shopping centres, or restaurants, available to us. So, we all turned to our televisions and our phones, relying on technology to get us through the never-ending days inside.
The Walt Disney Company had, luckily, launched Disney+ in November 2019 in the US. It came to the UK in March 2020. Disney+ allowed a huge catalogue of Disney movies and series to be included on one app. It was popular from its very first day, but the time was about to come when it would be a vital part of keeping people sane, and to stop them climbing the walls or feeling trapped in their houses.
Having Disney+ as a platform to release the movies that Disney had been actively promoting for months or years, but now would not get to the cinemas, was very fortunate. Some of these movies included Mulan (2020) and Artemis Fowl (2020).
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, however, was not going to be theatrically released. It was produced by Disney Channel. You’d think that these types of movies would not have been affected by the pandemic and should have just aired on the channel as normal. I would have expected that, but having a huge number of subscribers on Disney+ of a wide range of ages meant that releasing Secret Society of Second-Born Royals on to the streaming platform gave the movie a larger audience because we were all desperately seeking new content to enjoy.
I did add Secret Society of Second-Born Royals to my Disney+ watchlist in September 2020, when the movie first came to the service. This might suggest that I would’ve watched it at the time, but I did not. Unfortunately, my streaming watchlists is where things usually go to die, especially movies. I will always prioritise documentaries, especially Netflix ones – I love a good Netflix documentary – but rarely movies or series, especially if they are not based on a franchise I know or feature actors that I’m interested in.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals happened to be just one of those, so after a few months of sitting in Disney+ watchlist limbo, it was removed from my list. I didn’t expect much when I watched the film this week, but, despite the negative reviews I’ve seen from others, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a new favourite or anything, but I quite liked it.
PLOT
We begin in Illyria, being told that what is to come is not the usual princess-falling-in-love-with-her-prince-type of story, although it is about a princess, Princess Sam. She is a bit of a rebel, and apparently an anti-monarchist, despite the fact her mother has dutifully ruled Illyria for the last ten years since Sam’s father and uncle both died in a plane accident when Sam was just five-years old. Queen Catherine has been teaching Sam’s older sister, Eleanor, the ways of being queen since she will be formally named as ruler during the Coronation Ceremony on her 18th birthday, which is not far away.
Sam hates being a royal and despises being the second-born royal, “the spare”, as her future is supposed to be all about smiling, cutting ribbons, and hosting tea parties, nothing that Sam wants to do in her life. Instead, her and her friend, Mike, son of the castle groundskeeper, have a rock band, called Misfit Hemingways. On this day, they play their music in front of anti-royal protesters, are caught by the police, and are taken home.
Queen Catherine is exasperated with Sam’s constant resistance to royal life. Nevertheless, Sam is dragged to the Person of the Year event, with that person of the year just so happening to be Sam’s sister, Eleanor. Sam feigns illness and leaves, planning to attend a concert with Mike at the Velvet Underground Club. Since the two do not have IDs, they are turned away. However, Sam sees a back door into the club and the two head for it. The door is locked with a security code, but Sam manages to see what some guys keyed in from yards away. This confuses Mike but they go in anyway. As the band get playing though, Sam starts to feel strange, with her senses heightening and everything feeling weird. She pulls the fire alarm to get everything to stop, but once again, Sam and Mike are caught by the police and put in a jail cell overnight. Sam is worried about what could be wrong with her.
After a night in jail, Sam and Mike are free to go, with Sam furious that her mother would leave her in their overnight. Queen Catherine ignores Sam’s protests and tells her to pack for summer school as punishment for her behaviour.
Meanwhile, a dangerous prisoner has managed to escape his cell, though we don’t know his relevance yet, only that a secret operation took place to sneak a small pin into the cell by way of a red apple. This pin is used by the prisoner to create some sort of electronic device that unlocks the cell door. He flees the prison, and plots his revenge on Queen Catherine for putting him there, with Sam seeming to be the prisoner’s target.
At summer school, four other students, all royals, join Sam: January, Matteo, Tuma, and Roxana. January is an eager-to-please princess from Luxembourg; Roxana is a princess-turned-social media influencer; Tuma is the prince that is full of himself; and Matteo is the socially awkward royal. Soon, their teacher, Professor James Morrow, arrives and quickly informs them that they are not attending summer school for the reasons they think they are. In fact, this is a training programme, as these five are all second-born royals. Second-born royals all have superpowers and when the time is right, they are recruited to the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, an operation that protects the kingdom. Queen Catherine is the head of this society, much to Sam’s shock, and has the power of teleportation. They are then told that, should they be unsuccessful in training, their memories will be wiped and their powers removed for ever. No pressure there, then.
The recruits are taken to a training course, complete with booby traps, laser beams, and uneven flooring. They are tasked with getting to the other side, where a small pyramid sits. The five jump right in, and some of them discover their powers. Roxana has the power of invisibility, which she figures out after her thumb randomly disappears; Tuma has the power of persuasion, making anyone follow his orders; and Sam has that heightened sense thing. Despite this, nobody makes it to the other end of the course. As they sit and wait for further instruction, Matteo learns that he can control bugs – woo – and January figures out she can take someone else’s powers for a period of time.
Their next stage of training is all about learning to control their powers. Tuma is tasked with training an unruly dog; January must learn to extend the length of time she can have someone’s power for, working alongside Princess Anna, who can breathe underwater; Sam has to listen to multiple conversations at once; and Matteo has to work with his bugs, obviously. Roxana is put on an exercise bike whilst simulated weather is thrown in her face. Whilst everyone else figures out their powers, Morrow learns this method is not working on Roxana and threatens her, saying he’s about to go live on social media and everyone will see her looking a mess. This threat instantly makes Roxana disappear. Seems a bit cruel, but I guess it worked! Sam is later taken to see the society’s headquarters by her mother and given the master code to any door or lock in the castle as a way of motivating her to continue with the training. Sam is also told that a former member once betrayed them, so in amongst all the portraits of famous previous recruits, including Prince Harry, the most famous royal second-born in the world, is a black space, to remind everyone of this.
As Sam is about to leave the training camp to attend her band’s gig with Mike, an emergency alarm goes off and the recruits are called to a break-in at the Royal Treasury, with thieves looking to steal the Crown Jewels. The five are left to stop the thieves. Sam runs off to find them, and tasks the others with guarding the jewels. All five end up following the thieves and although they catch one, the jewels are still stolen. It turns out this was all a test and the recruits failed. Morrow gives them a day off to think about that.
On this day off, instead of wallowing in misery, the five have a fun day together in Illyria, giving them a chance to bond. Sam invites the others to her sister’s Coronation which is happening that Saturday; they happily accept. Later that day, January says she wants to see the castle, so her and Sam sneak their way to Sam’s room. As January plays on the keyboard, Mike arrives and accuses Sam of starting another band without him. She says she isn’t but can’t tell him what’s been going on with her and the society. He walks away, angry. To make things worse, when Sam and January get back to camp, they are attacked by an intruder. The other three arrive to fight him off and the intruder flees. Morrow tells them to go to their rooms because this guy is dangerous. But Sam doesn’t listen and follows him into the forest. This guy really isn’t someone you want to mess with because he is telekinetic and begins using his mind to throw objects at Sam, with a tree branch pinning her to the floor. She learns that this man is the prisoner who escaped jail and that he is her uncle who she thought was dead. Morrow comes to rescue Sam, using his power of multiplying himself to fight Sam’s uncle, but he is knocked out. January then comes to the rescue.
As Morrow is taken to hospital and training is suspended, Sam confronts her mother about her uncle, Edmond. She tells Sam that Edmond murdered Sam’s father so that he could take over as King of Illyria; the Queen had no choice but to imprison him. Sam demands a chance to talk to Edmond herself. Reluctantly, she is allowed to, with Edmond saying all he wanted was to abolish the monarchy, something Sam agrees with. Sam has a heart-to-heart with Eleanor, who says it hurts her that Sam is so against the monarchy, this being something Eleanor and Catherine have sought to protect. Sam then goes to see Morrow in hospital to apologise for what happened; he tells her she’s meant for great things.
Then it’s Coronation Day. Tuma, Roxana, and Matteo all arrive but where is January? Oh yeah, it turns out January is a villain, working with Edmond to destroy all royals in Illyria so that he can help her murder her brother so January can be queen. What a twist! January has also stolen Tuma’s power so everyone has to do what she says. Edmond is freed from his cell, and January puts the three recruits in there. Luckily, thanks to Sam’s sense power and a spy fly from Matteo, she sees Edmond in the castle grounds and knows something is wrong. She runs to Mike’s house and begs him to help her, revealing the society to him in the process. As Sam is cornered in a barn by January, she finds she can’t fight back, having to listen to January’s orders. January reveals Edmond’s plan to Sam but before she can do anything else, Mike drops a bag of grain on January and knocks her unconscious.
Sam and Mike head to the society headquarters and free the others. They learn that Edmond has taken a DNA device from the base and will use it to wipe out all the royals at Eleanor’s Coronation. The ceremony is already going on, so there’s not much time. They plan to lure Edmond to a room and use power-dampening collars to trap him there.
Sam finds Edmond on the castle roof and with help from the others, manages to grab the device from him. She jumps off the building, being carried to safety by Matteo’s butterflies. She runs to her room, and Edmond follows her. Luckily, their power-dampening trap works and he has no access to his telekinetic power. It leaves him with Mike who holds the DNA device. The recruits have reprogrammed the device so that it will only go after Edmond, but instead of “wiping him out”, the device basically sucks Edmond into it. The Coronation goes on as planned and Eleanor is crowned as Queen. Illyria is safe.
Eleanor then talks to Sam, saying that their mother told her about the society and thanks Sam for what she did. Eleanor also says that she plans to set up a parliament to work alongside the monarchy, to make Illyria more democratic, which pleases Sam. Sam, Matteo, Tuma, and Roxana are inducted into the Secret Society formally, with Morrow having fully recovered. Their first official order of business is to fly to Geneva, where January, having escaped Illyria, has robbed a bank vault, seemingly to fund a coup against her brother. The four members fly off to stop her.
CHARACTERS & CAST
Sam, or Princess Sam as she should probably be known, is the daughter of Queen Catherine and sister of Queen-to-be Eleanor. Despite being royal, Sam does not enjoy her life, feeling that being a princess isn’t a fulfilling life and wants more for herself. I think she also feels some guilt for the privileged life that she’s had, and believes that the kingdom of Illyria should be monarchy-free, to make life fairer for everyone. Sam continues this rebellious nature by forming a rock band with her friend, Mike, played by Noah Lomax, where they express their anti-royal beliefs in public. As Sam starts to fear her future of shaking hands and hosting parties, she is called up to the Secret Society, after realising that her sudden heightened senses are actually her superpower. Sam is uncertain about joining the society, but soon realises that it gives her the self-worth and purpose she has needed, and learns to understand the importance of her family. It also allows her to meet a group of people who turn out to be great friends. Well, all but one, anyway.
Sam was played by Peyton Elizabeth Lee who was no stranger to Disney at this time. Lee is well-known for her portrayal of the titular character in the Disney Channel series Andi Mack (2017-19). She also voiced the recurring character of Rani in The Lion Guard (2016-19). After her role in Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, Lee went on to star as Lahela Kameāloha in the Disney+ series Doogie Kameāloha, M.D. (2021-23), and then as Mandy in the Disney Original Movie, Prom Pact (2023).
Sam is the odd one out in her family as Eleanor and Catherine have accepted their royal standings. Queen Catherine has had to rule Illyria for ten years in place of the rightful king Robert, her husband, who died in a plane crash. She has had to not only lead the kingdom but also train her daughter Eleanor in how to be queen so that she can be coronated and take over when she reaches the age of 18. Eleanor has not had the luxury of being a rebel like Sam, as she has had to take her future position very seriously ever since their father died. She can’t understand Sam’s hatred of the very monarchy that they were both born into and that Eleanor and Catherine have had to fight to keep steady. It’s frustrating for both of them, which is why Catherine, head of the Secret Society, decides that Sam must join sooner rather than later so that Sam can finally realise how important all of them are for Illyria – or Sam just happened to be the right age for it; I don’t know the rules.
Élodie Yung was chosen for the part of Queen Catherine, who was known at the time for her role as Elektra Natchios in the Marvel series Daredevil (2015-18) and The Defenders (2017), as well as appearing in The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) as Amelia Roussel. Yung is currently starring as Thony De La Rosa in the thriller series The Cleaning Lady (2022-present). Eleanor was played by Ashley Liao, who was cast in Fuller House (2016-20) as Lola Wong prior to this movie. Liao went on to appear in Season 1 of the AppleTV+ series Physical (2021-23) and voice the character Jun Wong in DreamWorks Dragons: The Nine Realms (2021-23). She was also recently cast as Clemensia Dovecote in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023).
Princess January of Luxembourg is the big traitor of the Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, in a twist that many saw coming, according to reviews and comments online, but I didn’t – I get so invested in movies that I rarely think ahead to try and guess the plot. Anyway, January seemed very kind, sweet, and earnest at the start of the society training. She wanted everyone to be friends, work together, and harness their powers. January’s power is all about stealing from others so that ought to have given me a clue about her intentions towards the group, but it didn’t register. January uses Sam to gain access to the society headquarters so that she can enact her evil plan with Edmond, to destroy all those of royal blood in Illyria, in return for Edmond destroying January’s twin brother, who was only born a minute or so before her and is apparently an incompetent leader. Although January might have a point there about her brother – we don’t know for certain as we never see him – she should’ve learnt to fight her own battles and stayed in her own realm. I generally like the villain in movies though, so I did quite like January as a character.
January was played by Isabella Blake-Thomas, who had previously played Young Zelena in a couple of episodes of the ABC series Once Upon a Time (2011-18) and played Ella in the mystery drama film Kepler’s Dream (2017) alongside Holland Taylor. Edmond, the uncle who “came back from the dead” after murdering his brother in order to usurp the throne, was played by Greg Bryk, who had previously portrayed Joseph Seed through motion capture in the game Far Cry 5 (2018) and two of its sequels, and been cast as Weston Field in the series ReGenesis (2004-08) and as Cobbs Pond in Frontier (2016-18).
For the rest of the society, the remaining three recruits in Sam and January’s intake are Princess Roxana, Prince Tuma, and Prince Matteo. Matteo is initially very shy and unsure of himself amongst this group as he admits that he struggles in social settings. He’s not too impressed with his powers of bug control either, because admittedly it is a bit lame, but he comes to embrace it and use it to his advantage. Tuma, on the other hand, is very sure of himself and quite cocky. He has one of the best powers in the group, basically being able to control other people, which only makes the arrogance stronger, at least initially. Tuma does learn to respect the others in the group and work as a team by the end of the movie though. Roxana is a typical pampered princess, caring about her looks, social media, and her phone more than anything else. Her skill of turning invisible is quite a contrast from her constant online presence, although it is clear that without her fame, Roxana feels like a bit of fraud and not sure of her purpose. The society is good for her for this reason, just like Sam.
Roxana was played by Australian actress Olivia Deeble, who had been cast in the Aussie soap Home and Away (1988-present) as Raffy Morrison prior to her casting here. Deeble went on to write and star in the drama series More Than This (2022). Niles Fitch, who played Tuma, was known at the time for his role as Randall in the acclaimed drama series This Is Us (2016-22). Fitch went on to be cast in The Fallout (2021), alongside Jenna Ortega and Maddie Ziegler. After having appeared in a few episodes of Raven’s Home (2017-23) as Miles, Faly Rakotohavana was chosen for the part of Matteo. He recently was cast in the series UnPrisoned (2023-24) as Finn Alexander.
The final member of the society to mention is Professor James Morrow, their teacher and trainer who has the power of multiplying himself. He’s a good mixture of fun and serious to make the training less tedious. But he is also capable of making the group feel guilty when they’ve done something wrong, like when they fail their mission to protect the Crown Jewels, or when he gets beaten up by Edmond in the woods because Sam didn’t listen to orders and ends up in hospital… Morrow was played by Skylar Astin who is well-known for his role as Jesse in Pitch Perfect (2012) and its 2015 sequel, having also originated the role of Georg in Spring Awakening on Broadway. Astin was cast as Max in Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (2020-21) and went on to star as Todd in the series So Help Me Todd (2022-24).
MUSIC
When I learnt that Sam was in a band with her friend, Mike, I was suddenly concerned that Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was a musical. Not because I don’t like musicals – I do – but because I thought this film was already trying to be a comedy, science-fiction, and a spy thriller, and I felt that making it a musical was going to be a step too far!
Luckily, this movie is not a musical, and only features three original songs. One of these is “The Pressure”, performed by Peyton Elizabeth Lee as Sam on her electric guitar and Mike on drums. It’s not a bad song, but it’s a bit loud and shouty for me. I think it’s meant to be the ultimate show of teenage angst and of Sam’s anti-monarchist views. “The Pressure” is played early on in the movie, in front of a group of anti-royal protestors, so it’s a call to arms to them as well.
Then there are two songs by the in-movie band Bramblebone. At the concert that Sam and Mike attend, where she freaks out and pulls the fire alarm, they perform “Kickin’ In”, until they are rudely interrupted by the sprinklers going off. “Music is My Weapon” is the other, although it is an End Credits song, so Bramblebone are not seen here. Crista Russo is the credited performer of the Bramblebone songs, the lead singer of the band. All three of the movie’s original songs were also written by Crista Russo. None of the original songs in Secret Society of Second-Born Royals are to my taste as I’m not a huge fan of rock music.
I also found a few songs within the movie that are uncredited. One of these features during the scene of Sam attending the Person of the Year event. It is “I’m Good” by Australian singer Wafia. Shortly after that, the song “Deceptacon” by Le Tigre can be heard briefly as Sam rushes to the Bramblebone concert to meet Mike.
Another uncredited song is played during the recruits’ day off at the beach and that is “Worlds Collide” by NERVO, an Australian DJ duo. They co-wrote the David Guetta hit “When Love Takes Over” alongside Kelly Rowland, who also provided the song’s vocals. “When Love Takes Over” won the Grammy Award for Best Remixed Recording. January also plays a small section of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik” on the keyboard in Sam’s room when they sneak up there after the day off.
Next, the song “Soldier”, written by Lauren Strahm and Tommee Profitt, performed by Strahm under her stage name Fleurie, can be heard as Sam exits the hospital after seeing Morrow in the hospital and as the sun rises on Coronation Day. Fleurie’s music has featured in series such as Pretty Little Liars (2010-17) and The Originals (2013-18) as well as her song “Hurricane” being used for the trailer of Disney’s Black Beauty (2020).
Finally, the chorus of the song “young” by Meekha is used as the Coronation is successfully completed and Queen Eleanor is presented to the people of Illyria. I probably would’ve liked to hear a bit more of that song in the film, to be honest.
The score for Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was composed by Leo Birenberg. As a full score was not released, I cannot name specifically which musical segments I liked, but I can say I liked the music that played during the recruits’ training sessions and montages, as well as the music during the Coronation and final battle. Birenberg worked alongside composer Christophe Beck on some of his projects including the Disney films Frozen (2013), The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014). Recently, Birenberg composed the score for the series Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny (2018-19) and co-composed the series Cobra Kai (2021-present) alongside Zach Robinson.
PRODUCTION
The story of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, and presumably it’s oh-so-catchy and rolls-off-the-tongue title, is an original idea from Alex Litvak, Andrew Green, and Austin Winsberg, with the screenplay being written by Litvak and Green, and Winsberg coming on as a co-producer.
Anna Mastro, the director, was interested in this story as she felt it was a mixture of a coming-of-age story and an action movie. Action movies have had somewhat of a revival in recent years, for example with all the Marvel movies and series that Disney have been churning out. Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is clearly inspired by these sorts of movies, with many pointing out that this movie seemed to be taking some of its plot points from the X-Men. Mastro thought this project had a lot of potential and was excited to be working on an original IP for Disney. Mastro had previously directed episodes of series like Gossip Girl (2007-12) and Jane the Virgin (2014-19) before working on this film[1].
With Secret Society of Second-Born Royals wanting to throw itself into the action movie genre, stunts were going to be a necessity and the cast were eager to be involved, despite most of them having little to no experience with them. Skylar Astin was one of these people, who had to do a whole fight scene as different versions of himself. The teen actors were not discounted from stunt training either, with the training room sequence being a particularly fun scene to choreograph. It looked like a big playground to me[2].
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is set in Illyria, the smallest country in Europe, situated between Denmark and Germany, according to the map at the opening of the movie. It was not filmed in Europe though, with Toronto, Canada being chosen as the filming location. Some viewers complained that Illyria didn’t look at all European, but as it’s a fictional place, I don’t think anyone should really be commenting on this. So many movies are filmed in Canada when their stories are set in Europe; it’s never really bothered me.
Specifically, the University of Toronto Mississauga was a regular location used during the production of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, this being the setting for the Strathmore School scenes. The archway that is seen a couple of times in the movie was actually Princes’ Gate and areas of Downtown Toronto were used as well. Filming was still ongoing in the area as the Toronto Raptors won the 2019 NBA Finals in June which was exciting for the cast and crew to experience[3].
RECEPTION
Although Secret Society of Second-Born Royals feels like a typical Disney Channel Original Movie, it isn’t exactly labelled in that way.
The movie was produced by Disney Channel, and features one of its biggest stars, however, it did not premiere on Disney Channel; it premiered on Disney+. This has started to become the norm and I believe the simple reason for this is because many of the international Disney Channels have since shut down. Nowadays, it seems that Disney Channel-type movies premiere on Disney+ first and air at a later date on the US Disney Channel, making the label Disney Channel Original Movie inaccurate.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was originally set for a Disney+ release on 17th July 2020, which would’ve been two weeks after the widely popular Hamilton (2020) hit the platform. However, Disney announced in June 2020 that the release of Secret Society of Second-Born Royals had been postponed until September, with the movie finally airing on 25th September 2020. No reason for the postponement was given.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, since it was produced by Disney Channel, was always going to have a US Disney Channel premiere, yet this did not happen until 26th February 2023. A reason for this was also not provided.
In terms of audience reaction, the movie received mixed reviews. Some felt that the movie was good for teens and children, who were probably needing something to watch to distract them from the upheaval that was going on in the world. The message of friendship and belonging was also perceived well by these viewers who went in to Secret Society of Second-Born Royals expecting a typical but enjoyable Disney movie.
But there were also negative reviews. Some felt that Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was trying too hard to be like X-Men and that it failed to do this. Many found numerous plot holes that were not addressed throughout the events of the movie, such as how did January meet Edmond as their paths were unlikely to have ever crossed? I can understand that, but a discussion on how the genetic-based powers work only on second-born royals is a little too much overthinking in my opinion. By 2020, Disney+ had already released some exciting projects and this did not measure up in some people’s opinions.
For me, I enjoyed Secret Society of Second-Born Royals enough not to be bored by it and actually found the whole battle between Edmond, January, and Sam to be quite good. As I was watching, I felt like the film was a mixture of ideas from Disney’s Sky High (2005) and Princess Protection Program (2009), both films I liked and about superheroes and royalty respectively. I didn’t think Secret Society of Second-Born Royals warranted the amount of negativity it received and if I’d been in the target age range for the film and had known more of the lead actors, I might have really loved it. The only thing I would say is that perhaps the balance between seriousness and comedy was not quite right; it did feel too serious at times. Disney Channel movies are meant to be light-hearted entertainment and not trying to be like blockbuster movies of the same genre.
Regardless of the audience’s comments, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals became the most-watched movie on Disney+ on its weekend release. It was the second-most watched content on the platform behind The Simpsons (1989-present)[4]. The film also received nominations at the inaugural Critics’ Choice Super Awards in 2021 in these categories: Best Superhero Movie; Best Actress, for Peyton Elizabeth Lee; and Best Actor, for Skylar Astin.
LEGACY
As the ending to Secret Society of Second-Born Royals left us on a bit of a cliffhanger, with January in Geneva trying to enact a coup over her brother, and the recruits being sent to stop her, it would seem that Disney had always intended for a sequel to be made.
Director Anna Mastro said herself in an interview that there were two more chapters to this story, and the whole idea of this being a new, original live-action IP for Disney should’ve meant that this was a definite plan of action[5]. The cast also said they wanted to continue with the story and were excited to see what would happen to their characters.
However, a sequel has never been ordered or greenlit. This is likely because of the negative reaction that the original film received, with some reviews being quite brutal in their commentaries, pointing out everything “wrong” with the movie.
It is a shame that this cast will seemingly never take part in a sequel to Secret Society of Second-Born Royals. Four years have since passed, so a continuation of the first movie story is not really possible with these same actors and they have moved on to other projects in recent years. I wouldn’t have been counting down the days or anything should Secret Society of Second-Born Royals 2 have happened but I would’ve happily watched it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The reviews for Secret Society of Second-Born Royals were not so great but I disagree with them for the most part.
Secret Society of Second-Born Royals is exactly what I expected to see; it feels very Disney, and very much like a DCOM and there’s nothing wrong with that. It was never meant to compete with Marvel or DC Comics. It was meant to be a wholesome movie, about teenagers finding where they belong in this world, and coming together to defy expectations, and that’s what it did.
I think putting Secret Society of Second-Born Royals on Disney+ meant that more adults without children saw it, who potentially would never have found it had this only aired on Disney Channel, so they were going to be harder to please. This opened the movie up to a level of criticism it may never have received.
In my view, Secret Society of Second-Born Royals was simply a victim of pandemic boredom. If people don’t have much else to do other than watch television and streaming, then their expectations and viewing needs are higher than usual; they want something good to watch and they need it now. And if it’s not good, well, then they have all the time in the world to air their frustrations and spend hours picking holes in storylines.
REFERENCES
[1] Credit: Christina Radish, ‘‘Secret Society of Second-Born Royals’ Director Anna Mastro on the Possibility of Two Sequels’, Collider.com, 1st October 2020.
[2] Credit: Disney, ‘Character Powers and Stunts Featurette I Secret Society of Second-Born Royals I Disney+’, Disney Plus YouTube Channel, 26th September 2020.
[3] Credit: Brea Cubit, ‘Disney’s Secret Society of Second-Born Royals Found Its Fairy-Tale Location in Toronto’, PopSugar.com, 26th September 2020.
[4] Credit: Scott Mendelson, ‘In ‘Secret Society Of Second-Born Royals’, The Disney Princesses Are Superheroes Too’, Forbes.com, 29th September 2020.
[5] Credit: Christina Radish, ‘‘Secret Society of Second-Born Royals’ Director Anna Mastro on the Possibility of Two Sequels’, Collider.com, 1st October 2020.
The Disney Purist 