Izzy wants nothing more than to travel the world and do some good in it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like she’ll ever get the chance.
For starters, her mom doesn’t want her to leave. Mom doesn’t even like the idea of Izzy crossing the street to work at the community center, never mind what might happen if Izzy left the country. And second, Izzy just spent the last of her travel savings to repair her hair salon.
Things are looking grim. But just when Izzy has resigned herself to working in a hair salon for the rest of her days, she receives a phone call that changes everything.
After a foreign prince’s butler dials the wrong hair salon, Izzy winds up at their posh hotel to trim the royal locks.
Prince Thomas is mournfully out of touch with the common man—a trait that Izzy immediately calls out as despicable. But he’s so impressed by the hairdresser’s honesty that he gives her the opportunity of a lifetime.
Izzy is hired to do the hair and makeup for Thomas’ wedding in Lavania. But her serendipitous trip also inspires Izzy to finally follow her dreams and leave the salon life behind.
Izzy is beloved by her New York neighborhood because she gives to it selflessly. And during the short time she spends in Lavania, she takes the Über die Gleise (the poor area on the other side of the train tracks from the palace) on as a personal project, organizing a toy drive and donating furniture to the underprivileged community.
When one of Thomas’ staff members yells at a hotel maid for spilling a tray of tea, Izzy rushes to help the woman and reassure her. She then scolds Thomas for not defending the woman and storms out (leaving his hair half-done) on principle. Later on, she insists on being introduced to a housekeeper (which goes against procedure) simply because “[the woman] is a person.”
After being scolded by Izzy, Thomas takes an interest in his palace staff and the people of the Über. He personally donates the palace’s old furniture (which was being kept in storage), helps serve food to the Über children and defends the rights of the people living there.
A French woman (who works for the royal family) shouts at Izzy’s friends and coworkers, Destiny and Lola, because their hairstyling isn’t to her standard. However, after training them, it’s clear she’s proud of their progress and only held them to that standard because she knew they were capable of more.
Izzy and her friends, Destiny and Lola, are very complimentary to the people they style. Izzy’s mom learns to give her daughter freedom to choose her own path. We see strong familial and community bonds. A man says that love should be the primary factor in marriage, not money.
A woman wonders if she is dead before stating that if she were, her husband (who died several years earlier) would be there. A picture of her husband sits on a shelf with rosaries and figurines of Mary, Mother of Jesus. After paying extortion money, Izzy tells a man to use whatever is left over to buy himself a soul. A woman says she might be psychic.
Walter, Thomas’ butler, is gay and tells the prince about choosing his career over marrying another man. (In an animated scene during the credits, we see an illustration of Walter greeting another man with flowers.) Thomas jokes that his fiancé could have been his cousin.
Two people kiss. A man kisses his fiancé on the cheek. We see a man’s bare chest as he gets dressed. Women wear revealing outfits throughout the film. A tabloid calls a man “hot.” A woman rejects a man’s romantic interest, since he is engaged.
A couple of fires ignite at Izzy’s salon. Izzy threatens to injure a man’s fingers. Her grandmother suggests breaking the same man’s knees. One character brandishes a broom at a man. We hear a woman’s cousin died crossing train tracks. Several children shoot rubber bands at someone.
There is a single use of “d–n.” God’s named is abused frequently throughout the film. Someone exclaims, “For heaven’s sake!”
People drink wine, champagne and other spirits. Izzy puts off delivering bad news until the receiver has had a little to drink.
Thomas is clearly unhappy with his life. Although he’s enjoyed a privileged existence, it’s also felt confining, since he’s never been allowed to make a decision for himself. And whenever he asks his parents for more freedom, they manipulate him instead.
Similarly, Thomas’ fiancée, Lauren, isn’t thrilled about their impending marriage. Lauren’s sad that she doesn’t know Thomas better and expresses her desire to start a business before starting a family—which is ignored by her mother, who scoffs at her daughter’s dreams. [Spoiler Warning] Determined to see her daughter’s wedding go through, Lauren’s mother takes incriminating photos of Izzy hanging out with Thomas to get Izzy fired.
The entire royal family treats non-royalty like peasants. This snooty attitude extends to their senior staff members, who are often rude to lower staff members.
A man extorts Izzy for money and blames it on his employer. Parents extort their children as well and cover up their misdealing’s with lies.
Various characters make selfish, deceitful and unethical choices for the sake of their own financial gain.
The Royal Treatment has a pretty Hallmark-standard plot. A big-city girl with even bigger dreams finds herself falling for a foreign prince, but he’s supposed to marry someone else. And you can pretty much figure out what happens from there.
But let’s focus on the positive aspects for a moment.
Izzy is an inspiring character. She battles injustice and encourages those around her to do the same. She and her friends are also kind, doling out compliments like a chef on Thanksgiving.
She also never flirts with Thomas. Which is honestly quite refreshing, since many films coming out of Hollywood these days pit women against each other over a man. But in this case, Izzy doesn’t pursue Thomas. She just acts like her normal, friendly self. And yeah, she eventually starts to like him, but when he confesses his feelings for her, she refuses to be the other woman.
But for all the warm, fuzzy vibes we get from the film, there’s one scene that might turn families away. Walter, Thomas’s trusted butler and lifelong friend, is gay. He tells Thomas that he gave up love for his career and urges the prince not to do the same.
Many parents who might otherwise enjoy this film with their kids may not want to dive into an explanation of Walter’s homosexuality. That said, The Royal Treatment is but the latest movie to include a pro-LGBT perspective. It’s a worldview Christian parents increasingly have to help their children navigate from a biblically faithful understanding of this issue.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
