The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

2015 2h 2m EN

😐

6.4

MID

★6.4TMDB · 790

DramaComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

As the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel has only a single remaining vacancy - posing a rooming predicament for two fresh arrivals - Sonny pursues his expansionist dream of opening a second hotel.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Dev Patel
Sonny Kapoor
Judi Dench
Evelyn Greenslade
Richard Gere
Guy Chambers
Maggie Smith
Muriel Donnelly
Bill Nighy
Douglas Ainslie
Celia Imrie
Madge Hardcastle
Penelope Wilton
Jean Ainslie
Ronald Pickup
Norman Cousins

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Madden
Writers: Ol Parker, John Madden
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 11 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Part of the "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Madden, shot by Ben Smithard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Thomas Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Victoria Boydell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Dev Patel and Judi Dench and Richard Gere carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt2555736 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Madden directs. Ben Smithard behind the camera. Thomas Newman scores. Victoria Boydell cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 8.6× over at the box office.
2Released 11 years ago.
3Part of the "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by John Madden, shot by Ben Smithard. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Thomas Newman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Victoria Boydell shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Dev Patel and Judi Dench and Richard Gere carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt2555736 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "affectation", "india", "retirement home", "zealous".

The technical file

Cinematography: Ben Smithard
Original score: Thomas Newman
Editing: Victoria Boydell
Production design: Martin Childs
Makeup / hair: Beverley Binda
VFX supervisor: Thomas Proctor
Sound: Tim Cavagin
Runtime: 122 min · 2h 2m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $85,979,176
Return: 860% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015)

Part of

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Collection

The ongoing happenings at the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

Also by

John Madden

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Jack2020-05-13
★ 9/10
Just like the first film, this one also takes you to a very special journey you can never forget. The honesty of the characters and how relatable they are is what made the first film so charming and unique applies to this film too. These two films have a very special place in my heart. Would I watch it again? Absolutely! Would I make my friends watch it? Definitely.
CinemaSerf2023-08-12
★ 6/10
Well hats off to John Madden for managing to reassemble the cast from the first film from four years earlier, and for securing the sparing services of Richard Gere but I'm afraid the rest of this is all a poor cousin. With the hotel now more successful, "Sonny" (Dev Patel) and "Mrs. Donnelly" (Dame Maggie Smith) are in the USA trying to seek funding for them to expand, and to buy the former women's palace for their next venture. Returning, and expecting an inspector to come and evaluate their business they greet the arrival of writer "Chambers" (Gere) and of new guest "Lavinia" (Tamsin Greig) in slightly different manners - and that's the first mistake for "Sonny"! The first film had a freshness to it, they (and we) were are all exploring a new life with new opportunities in a new bustling city: this is a much less joyful affair. Everyone appears to be looking towards the end; the characters are much flatter and slightly more depressed. The mischievous characterisations from Ronald Pickup and Celia Imrie have entered a rather uninteresting cul-de-sac. Familial discord between Sonny, his fiancée and his mother is all just a bit too convoluted and the story just, frankly, runs out of steam. Patel exudes charisma, he does way more to carry this than any of others and in the end comes up with quite a decent bit of dancing too. It's colourful and it's doesn't hang about, but Dame Maggie, in particular, has lost much of her curmudgeonly charm and Dame Judi really rather simpers through the film with little of the spark we saw before. To be honest, I'm not really sure the first film really merited a sequel at all. This one is really not very memorable and Richard Gere's character adds very little indeed.