| Director | Matthew Vaughn |
|---|---|
| Genre | children's film, cinematic fairy tale, drama film, fantasy film, film based on a novel, ghost film, swashbuckler film |
| Runtime | 130 min |
| Country | United Kingdom, United States |
| Budget | $70 million |
| Box office | $137 million |
The English village of Wall lies near a stone wall that borders the magical kingdom of Stormhold. A guard prevents anyone from crossing. Dunstan Thorne tricks him and crosses over the wall to a marketplace. He meets Una, an enslaved princess who offers him a glass snowdrop in exchange for a kiss. They spend the night together. Nine months later, the guard delivers a baby named Tristan to Dunstan.
Eighteen years later, the dying King of Stormhold throws a ruby into the sky: his successor will be the first of his sons to recover it. The gem hits a star, and both fall out of the sky, landing in Stormhold. The princes Primus and Septimus independently search for the stone.
In Wall, Tristan and Victoria see the falling star. He vows to retrieve it in return for her hand in marriage. Despite his mother being from beyond the wall, he cannot get past the guard. He receives a Babylon candle that she left for him, which can take the user to any desired location. Tristan lights it and is transported to the fallen star, personified as a woman named Yvaine. He uses a magic chain to claim her and take her to Victoria.
Three ancient witch sisters resolve to eat the fallen star's heart to recover their youth and replenish their powers. Their leader, Lamia, eats the remnants of an earlier star's heart and departs to find Yvaine. She conjures up a wayside inn as a trap.
Yvaine becomes tired, so Tristan chains her to a tree and promises to bring food. In his absence, a unicorn releases her but unwittingly takes her to Lamia's inn. Tristan discovers that Yvaine is gone, but the stars whisper that she is in danger, explaining how Lamia and her sisters manipulated and killed the last star who fell. The stars tell him to get on a passing coach, which happens to be Primus's. They stop at the inn, interrupting Lamia's attempt to kill Yvaine. Lamia kills Primus, while Tristan and Yvaine use the Babylon candle to escape into the clouds, where they are captured by pirates in a flying ship. The leader, Captain Shakespeare, tells his crew that Tristan is his nephew and Yvaine is a friend. He gives them new clothes and teaches Tristan how to fence and Yvaine how to dance.
Septimus, being the last surviving son, needs only to find the stone to claim the throne. He learns that Yvaine has it and realizes that her heart grants immortality, which would make him king for eternity.
After leaving Captain Shakespeare, Tristan and Yvaine confess their love for one another and spend the night together at an inn. The next morning, Tristan leaves the sleeping Yvaine and leaves with a lock of her hair to tell Victoria that he has fallen in love with Yvaine. When the lock turns to black sand, he realizes that Yvaine will die if she crosses the wall, and rushes back to save her.
Yvaine finds Tristan gone, and, thinking that he has abandoned her for Victoria, despondently walks toward the wall. Una notices Yvaine walking to her doom and takes the reins of Ditchwater Sal's caravan and stops her. Lamia kills Sal and captures Una and Yvaine, taking them to the witches' manor. Septimus and Tristan pursue Lamia, agreeing to work together. Barging into the castle, Septimus recognizes Una as his long-lost sister, and Una tells Tristan that she is his mother.
Septimus and Tristan kill two of the witches, but Lamia uses a voodoo doll to kill Septimus. Lamia is about to kill Tristan when she appears to break down over the loss of her sisters. Lamia frees Yvaine, but her feigned defeat is a ruse, and she tries to kill both. As Tristan and Yvaine embrace, their love allows her to shine once again, killing Lamia.
Tristan retrieves Yvaine's gem, and Una reveals that, as her son, Tristan is the last male heir of Stormhold. He becomes king with Yvaine as his queen, and Dunstan and Una are reunited. Since Tristan has Yvaine's love, he metaphorically has her heart and gains eternal youth. After eighty years of rule, they use a Babylon candle to ascend to the sky, where they live together as stars.