Victoria And Abdul is a biographical historical drama film directed by Stephen Frears. The film revolves around the friendship between Queen Victoria (Judy Dench), and her servant turned friend Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a friendship that pushed boundaries and set the social world of 19th century London ablaze.
With historical biopic films there is always a danger of how characters are represented, they can go either way, but this one airs of the fluffier side for sure; especially when it comes to Dench’s Queen Victoria. I feel like because audiences like Dench we can’t see her Victoria do even one slightly bad or less progressive thing, as the real Queen would have done for sure.
The ending is heart wrenching, The Queen dies, which is the first blow, and then Abdul get stripped of everything. Normally, I don’t like sad endings, but with a film like this you need to stick to the truth and in this case, I thought the ending was poignant and meaningful. It will make you cry a little bit.
I think it is nice to see a film like this that covers a relationship that isn’t often talked about during a time period that is often covered. It is nice to see this because it reminds you of the diverse nature of our Isles, people from all over the world have a hand in where we are now.
I am glad they included the blow back to their friendship in the film, so we can see how far we have come now as a society and where we need to improve still. It is importantly for films like this to keep being made and spreading a positive message.
Overall, this is a nice feel good film for the most part, the ending is brutal, but that is what was needed as you can’t change history.
Pros.
Feel good for the most part.
It is not afraid to get dark.
It covers a mostly forgotten part of history.
Cons.
It is a bit too long.
Dench is phoning it in.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 