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Victoria & Abdul

Victoria & Abdul

Drama · History · 2017

Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.

Movie details

Victoria & Abdul

“History's most unlikely friendship.”

2017 Drama · History 1h 52m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Victoria & Abdul?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Stephen Frears

Written by

Lee Hall

Judi Dench

Judi Dench

Queen Victoria

Ali Fazal

Ali Fazal

Abdul Karim

Tim Pigott-Smith

Tim Pigott-Smith

Sir Henry Ponsonby

Suzy Eddie Izzard

Suzy Eddie Izzard

Bertie, Prince of Wales

Adeel Akhtar

Adeel Akhtar

Mohammed

Michael Gambon

Michael Gambon

Lord Salisbury

Paul Higgins

Paul Higgins

Dr. James Reid

Court is in session

Put Victoria & Abdul on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.