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Victoria and Abdul

2017

Stephen Frears

Judi Dench, Ali Fazal, Eddie Izzard, Adeel Akhtar ...

6.1

3,760

Drama. Comedy It tells the true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim, a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy. [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"'Victoria & Abdul' is a pleasant enough entertainment (...) But as prestige period pieces go, it’s far from top-drawer (more like second drawer, or even third)"	NEU
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"A moving account of an isolated old woman finding joy and lightness in her final years (...) Dench is irresistible (...) We remain invested in it through to the sorrowful end"	POS
United Kingdom	Xan Brooks The Guardian	"Frears has made some great films (...) and some god-awful ones too (...) 'Victoria & Abdul' belongs with the duds (...) It’s a film about the Raj era that looks as if it was made back then, too (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"	NEG
United Kingdom	Robbie Collin Telegraph	"This fascinating real-life tale is reduced to biscuit-tin proportions (...) You’ll find an expectedly sensational performance from Dench (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	NEU
United States	Ben Croll IndieWire	"[A] benignly toothless, pleasantly glossy affair that refuses to wrestle with bigger implications (...) The film is called 'Victoria & Abdul' but it only ever lives up to one half of its title."	NEG
United States	Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"There’s not much to 'Victoria & Abdul', but as a delivery system for Judi Dench, it serves its purpose. Otherwise, it’s just Buckingham Palace fetishism cranked up to peak mumsy."	NEG
United Kingdom	Jonathan Romney Screendaily	"At best drolly acidic, at worst keeps the reactionary assumptions of heritage cinema entirely, sumptuously, in place"	NEU
United States	Rodrigo Perez The Playlist	"'Victoria & Abdul' may not convert its feel-good sensibilities into something more resonant the way 'Philomena' did (...) The film is warmhearted, tender and sincerely gives a crap."	NEU

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