Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

jpgougouh The queen.... portrayed as a traitor to the kingdom. We all know why they did this movie. Globalism oblige...The mayor say it's all part of the everyday life in London. The old queen needs this exotic person but who else do?

azim_60616 Kinda insulting to IndianaKinda insulting to Indiana

Prismark10 Following on from Mrs Brown in 1997. Judi Dench reprises her role as an older Queen Victoria in the last years of her life but still infatuated with a maverick member of her household.This time one of the two servants, Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) presented to the Empress of India. Victoria becomes fascinated by the exotic Karim who no doubt embellishes his status and stories much to the chagrin of the monarchs advisers and other members of the staff. They are not happy with this foreigner taking so much of Victoria's attentions. Abdul becomes her spiritual advisor on all things Indian.The film is based on true incidents. What is known for certain is that a lot of the papers relating to Karim were burned after Victoria's death and it highlights the prejudice of the times.Stephen Frears adds panache and humour to a slight story but it is sumptuous to look at with the costumes and set direction but it lacks the poignancy of Mrs Brown from two decades earlier.

sddavis63 In many ways, Victoria & Abdul feels almost like a sequel to 1997's "Mrs. Brown" - including the fact that Queen Victoria was played in both by Judi Dench. Dench was predictably superb in the role - it's not wrong to suggest that this was a role that she was born to play - and I have to say that while I enjoyed "Mrs. Brown," I actually thought that for a variety of reasons this was the better of the two movies. In spite of that fact this movie at times came across as light-hearted (perhaps a tinge of comedy-drama to it) it also, to me, seemed to have more depth to it - especially its sometimes under-stated but always very present reflection on British colonial attitudes toward India and race.Like "Mrs. Brown," "Victoria & Abdul" focuses on a most unlikely friendship. This is set late in Victoria's reign. She is elderly and she is lonely. She's been a widow for a long time (her beloved Albert having died almost 30 years before), she's largely estranged from her children and she's surrounded by courtiers and politicians but not friends. She's literally dragged out of bed every morning by her servants - and she's miserable; an old woman simply waiting to die. And into the midst of that comes Adbul Karim (played by Ali Fazal.) Brought to England to present a ceremonial Indian coin to the Queen, the two somehow strike up a friendship, and Abdul becomes almost like a son to her and becomes very committed to her in return. The movie doesn't really make clear what drew them to one another - which is perhaps appropriate, because the tension of the movie is the inability of everyone around her to understand why this relationship has developed. The best answer might be simply that Victoria needed someone, and one of Dench's masterful bits of work in this movie is her portrayal of the difference Abdul made in Victoria's life. Without Adbul, Dench presents Victoria as tired, disinterested, miserable - waiting to die basically. But with Abdul, Dench transforms the character into one that's alive and vibrant and curious - and enjoying her life. It was a very good performance. We can become too consumed by wanting an "explanation" and forget to simply celebrate the power of the connection the two developed. As Abdul rises (eventually Victoria names him her "munshi" - spiritual teacher - much to the chagrin of her court because he's a Muslim and she's the head of the Church of England) the court turns on both him and her because of the relationship.Unlike "Mrs. Brown" - which was interesting but had few real issues of substance to it - "Victoria & Abdul" does actually deal with real issues - especially the British attitude toward India and its people. It was often considered the crown jewel of the British Empire, and Victoria was delighted when she was granted the title of "Empress of India" (by Disraeli in the 1860's mind you and not by the people of India.) And yet the overwhelming British attitude toward Indians was racism and toward India was ignorance - attitudes shared by Queen Victoria, who knew nothing of this place she was so proud to be Empress of. India was another bit of pink (the colour always used for many years to denote the countries of the British Empire) on the map of the world to be exploited for the mother country. There are various ways in which this is pointed out - one of the best being the insistence of the British to refer to Abdul and his friend Mohammed (who made the journey to England with him) as "the Hindus" even though they were Muslim. The Queen's loneliness and isolation is also highlighted. There are a variety of ways of doing so. It's clear that she has a huge family - at her deathbed stands Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany (with whom Britain will be at war in less than 20 years) and who was actually Victoria's grandson. She is constantly surrounded by servants who take care of her every need. She is constantly speaking to politicians. But she's essentially alone. We may not know what caused her to bond with Adbul, but it's not hard to understand why she needed to bond with someone. In the end, the bond represented a threat to those around Victoria - especially her son and heir Bertie (who would become King Edward VII when she died) and who, upon his accession to the throne, finally gets his revenge on Abdul.This is a very well done movie. The performances are first rate, the story is interesting, the attempts at humour work. It drew me in and held me for its entire run time. (9/10)