The Lost King

"Her story made history."

2022 1h 48m EN

👍

6.5

SOLID

★6.5TMDB · 201

ComedyDramaHistory

Synopsis

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An amateur historian defies the academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.

“Her story made history.”

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Cast

Sally Hawkins
Philippa Langley
Steve Coogan
John Langley
Harry Lloyd
Richard III/Pete
Mark Addy
Richard Buckley
James Fleet
John Ashdown-Hill
Lee Ingleby
Richard Taylor
Adam Robb
Max Langley
Benjamin Scanlan
Raife Langley

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Stephen Frears
Writers: Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
Languages: English
Countries: France, 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

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: France, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Stephen Frears, shot by Zac Nicholson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan and Harry Lloyd carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Her story made history.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt13421498 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Stephen Frears directs. Zac Nicholson behind the camera. Alexandre Desplat scores. Pia Di Ciaula cuts. Produced in France, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 4 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: France, United Kingdom.
3Directed by Stephen Frears, shot by Zac Nicholson. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Alexandre Desplat. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Pia Di Ciaula shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan and Harry Lloyd carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Her story made history.".
8IMDB entry: tt13421498 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Zac Nicholson
Original score: Alexandre Desplat
Editing: Pia Di Ciaula
Production design: Andy Harris
Costume design: Rhona Russell
Makeup / hair: Maxine Dallas
Sound: Howard Bargroff
Runtime: 108 min · 1h 48m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Box office: $1,183,336
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Lost King (2022)

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Stephen Frears

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2022-10-08
★ 7/10
Sally Hawkins turns in an enthusiastic performance here as the determined Philippa Langley. Separated from her husband (Steve Coogan), she is sort of at the end of her tether when she takes her young son to see a stage version of Shakespeare's "Richard III". Taken with the tragedy of that story, she joins the local "Ricardians" and soon determines that this particular historical figure has had a bit of a bad press, and so she sets out to try and track down the hitherto unidentified location of his corpse. It's based on a true story, so we know what actually happened but the drama offered here is still quite engaging as she has to convince the powers that be to allow her to dig up their car park, then try to fend off their collective claims of success before the ultimate battle to get the man buried with some semblance of his real life status and is enjoyable to watch, especially once her adventure begins in earnest. Then together with archaeological lead Mark Addy and some spiritual assistance from Harry Lloyd's spectral version of this final Plantaget King - who, along with his horse - seems keen to help her from the grave, this film moves along entertainingly. It certainly doesn't need to be seen at the cinema, and It's a bit of a slow burn to begin with, but overall I quite enjoyed it.
Peter McGinn2022-11-16
★ 9/10
I really enjoyed this movie. Mind you, I have been interested in the long suppressed truth about King Richard III for a long time, so at the very least I appreciate a feature film trying to set the record more straight. But even setting that aside, I thought the movie was entertaining and interesting. They made a lot of small changes from Philippa Langley’s book describing her journey to discovering the body of Richard III, but it was to give the story more dramatic appeal and quirkiness. It seemed to all work for me. I loved Sally Hawkins in Persuasion and she doesn’t disappoint here. Steve Coogan gives an impressive layered performance, and James Fleet and Mark Addy are two terrific British character actors. Having Philippa actually see and speak to Richard III is a device used in many films before, but I think it is an effort to replace strange feelings Langley describes in her story where she felt his presence near where he was buried, even before they confirmed he was there. So I will forgive them that somewhat hackneyed decide. I think the relationship between her and her husband was complex enough to be believable. In my mind I predicted the applause scene at the end, but it did provide a nice closing to the story.