Victoria & Abdul
First screened in October 2017
Director: Stephen Frears. Cast: Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Tim Pigott-Smith, Paul Higgins, Adeel Akhtar, Michael Gambon, Olivia Williams, Fenella Woolgar, Ruth McCabe, Julian Wadham, Robin Soans, Sukh Ojla, Sally Jokhan, Kemaal Deen-Ellis, Simon Callow. Screenplay: Lee Hall (based on the book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closest Confidant by Shrabani Basu). Twitter Capsule:
I expected pandering pap but this is weirder. Itchy about its hero, its tone, and its story. Patchily assembled.
VOR:②
Every time it gets close to something interesting (Victoria's eros, Ali's duplicity) it retreats into false tones and revised histories. Shoddy.
