What it’s about
In 1997, after the tragic death of Princess Diana, emotionally reserved Queen Elizabeth II (Mirren) and the Windsor family struggle with growing pressure from newly elected PM Tony Blair (Sheen) and a grief-stricken public to offer some official display of mourning. This is a rare instance when the monarch is out of step with the sentiments of her public, and the proud but practical Queen must find a way to respond without appearing to lose face.
Why we love it
Frears’ wry, compelling docudrama follows Blair’s strenuous efforts to help the hapless Windsors avert a major PR disaster in the wake of Diana’s fatal car accident. Oscar winner Mirren, whose uncanny channeling of Elizabeth’s stiff-upper-lip airs is one of recent cinema’s most uncanny performances, flawlessly capturing the Queen’s eerie old-world reticence. But she also makes her a sympathetic, even intriguing figure. By turns tense and touching, and consistently engrossing, by all means bow down to “The Queen.”
Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen Stephen Frears