WHO’S IN IT?
Judi Dench (Iris), Ali Fazal (Fast & Furious 7), Eddie Izzard (Valkyrie), Tim Pigott-Smith (V for Vendetta), Adeel Akhtar (The Big Sick), Simon Callow (Viceroy’s House), Michael Gambon (The King’s Speech), Julian Wadham (The Iron Lady), Olivia Williams (Hyde Park on Hudson), Fenella Woolgar (Swallows and Amazons), Jonathan Harden (The Invisible Woman)
WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?
Stephen Frears (Philomena), director; Lee Hall (Billy Elliott), writer; Tim Bevan (Anna Karenina), Eric Fellner (Atonement), Beeban Kidron (Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason) and Tracey Seaward (The Queen), producers; Thomas Newman (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), composer; Danny Cohen (The King’s Speech), cinematographer; Melanie Oliver (Pride), editor
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
Abdul Karim (Fazal), a young clerk, travels from India to serve under an aging Queen Victoria (Dench), who in her later years is starting to question the constrictions of her long-held position. Both are just as surprised as everyone else to forge an unlikely friendship with each other, and develop an alliance that becomes so strong that Victoria begins to see a changing world through new eyes…
IN ONE SENTENCE, WHY SHOULD YOU BE EXCITED?
Judi Dench – in her second portrayal of Queen Victoria after her Oscar-nominated turn in Mrs Brown – brings a sense of joy to this crowd-pleasing biopic of friendship and companionship coming from the most unlikely of places, and between the most unlikely of people.
