Stephen Frears likes to study significant characters with stories to tell – but most of the time, we adopt the perspective of an outside source. Whether it be that of the journalist in Philomena and The Program, or the beleaguered other half of Florence Foster Jenkins – his films are proof that sometimes the very best to understand somebody is through somebody else. It’s a technique he’s taken on again in Victoria and Abdul, peering into the remarkable livelihood of the eponymous…
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“While it’s to the film’s detriment at times, the earnest, well-meaning approach is endearing in parts.”
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Queen Victoria strikes up an an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim.
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