Disney+ has released its newest original movie in association with Disney Channel and it is its most diverse and modern movie yet. It starts out having everything you would expect from a Disney Channel Original Movie: a generic social message about rebelling, some cheesy dialogue and some generic, basic music. But there is less cringe factor than you would expect. In Secret Society of Second-Born Royals, royalty meets X-Men as the second born children of royal families find out that they have secret powers in a Breakfast-Club-style reveal.
The movie can boast having Disney’s first live action black prince in the shape of Niles Finch (This Is Us), as well as the main royal family being women of colour. There is even a casual mention of James, their teacher, having a boyfriend which is a much better attempt at including an LGBTQ+ character than in their other feature films as it is in a scene which would be hard pressed to edit out.
Much of the first twenty minutes are quite choppy and changing and fast-paced in order to fit in a lot of exposition. There is also the small matter of them being in a European country but the main princess has an American accent, but that is by the by. The dialogue is quite basic, definitely telling more than they are showing, the stakes never get too high and the resolution comes perhaps a little too easily, but there are no major plot holes and there is a solid twist. It is predictable but it is a teen movie and it’s a pretty good one at that.
‘Secret Society of Second-Born Royals’ is available to stream on Disney+.
Pep Reviews 