The King

October's Netflix horror extravaganza is over, but I'm also thankful for this historical flick, which it seems Netflix will serve up every year (last year it was Outlaw King, which I liked a little more, but this one is a blast too). We follow the story of young Henry V, who has recently been crowned king after the death of his father and will have to deal with the war he inherited. Brilliantly filmed, fateful, messy, authentic, historically accurate and above all breathtakingly acted. Timothée Chalamet shows a huge amount of talent on screen and I feel he has a rich future (the King's rage speech before the battle gave me goosebumps like nothing I've seen in a long time), but it was also nice to see Joel Edgerton with a perfect strategic plan and Robert Pattinson playing the sleazy French prince brilliantly. The film climaxes with the solid and glorious Battle of Agincourt, which is properly raw and dirty, and the final rather unexpected twist is brilliant. Even though the film has a slower pace, it doesn't get boring at all and is absolutely riveting. 85% (03/11/2019)

It seems that Netflix decided to try its hand at European historical epics. During the last two years, it produced the best two films of this genre in quite some time – Outlaw King and The King. These films have similar titles, topics and quality, but the latter seemed more professional to me. Maybe it’s because of the Shakespeare references, great dialogues and actors, intimacy of its story or perhaps the action scenes, with an epic finale and postscript that made me melt in pure bliss. For an intimate historical film full of politics there are quite a lot action scenes and witty lines, which is definitely good. It reminds me of the 1980s and 90s, the era of classic historical epics. By the way, did you also do a double-take over the fact that Timothée Chalamet, an actor with obvious French roots, plays the English king and the indisputable Englishman Robert Pattison plays a bitchy Frenchman? Their performances were very entertaining. (18/12/2019)

A likeable and sober hybrid of Shakespeare drama and medieval epic that must have been great to watch in the big screen. Everyone took things admirably seriously, the actors fully fused into their roles (besides the excellent Chalamet, the cheerful drunkard Edgerton, the unpredictable Harris and the breathtakingly sly Mendelsohn also deserve praise), the costume designers perfectly recreated the era, the cameramen always found the right angle and lightning and the director tried not to fall into stylistic mannerisms to take the viewer right to the table, or to a battlefield, next to the characters. And everything works so well, and that’s why it’s such a shame how at times it deviates from the captivating old-world notes only because they feared the film would bore a modern audience – if the script had dived deeper into the psychology of the main character and avoided changing his view during one conversation, it could have been an amazing contribution to the half-century old tradition of big narrative movies. This way, it’s “only” a wonderfully executed and valuably authentic historical drama. (19/01/2020)

A bigger budget and a more effectively rendered battle would have elevated The King, but even without those things, this is an outstanding film. The slow-paced, psychologically meticulous narrative follows the transformation of a bohemian pacifist’s way of thinking and attitude into that of a cruel warrior who wants to uphold his honor. Friendship, ambition, intrigue and the loss of something held dear in exchange for something less valuable but predestined by fate. At the same time, the English and French “political nature” is nicely depicted in historical terms. All four of the key roles are played by great actors. As co-writer and co-producer, Edgerton is the father of this work. Excellent. (18/09/2020)

It takes a while for the viewer to get over the fact that here the otherwise fragile, etheric Timothée playing a proficient drinker and invincible warrior... I also had trouble believing him being a womanizer....  So if you manage to get over that, you will enjoy a black and grey medieval period full of dirt, mud and cruel massacres. It's not bad, just depressing. (23/03/2023)