THE LOST KING - Mark Reviews Movies

The Lost King, IFC Films

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Review by Mark Dujsik | March 23, 2023

While this dramatization of the search for the remains of Richard III struggles in its portrayal of the main character, the history behind The Lost King is too fascinating to ignore. Director Stephen Frears' film is certainly one of those true-life stories that probably would have been better served by a documentary covering the same material. Even so, we still get a fine account of the research, historical debates, and political scheming that were behind the investigation into the location of a king's body, which was somehow lost to history without anyone much caring.

The screenplay, written by co-star Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, is based on the non-fiction book The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III written by Philippa Langley. Langley, an ordinary working woman living in Edinburgh, became an amateur historian with a particular interest in the maligned king, whose quality of character—or the complete lack of any quality—was and still is, really, mostly defined by his fictionalized realization in William Shakespeare's play. That's the strength of both Shakespeare's writing, which gave us one of the most believably pathetic villains in the history of drama, and political propaganda, because even the modern-day royal family's website listed Richard as a usurper until only several years ago.

It's not really a spoiler to point out that the real Langley's efforts, which are fudged and condensed here in a way that does the film's version of her a disservice, were successful. The discovery of Richard's skeleton, buried beneath a parking lot in a way that almost seemed to confirm his infamy (although that wasn't at all the case), became international news.

The filmmakers expect that we know how the search will end, and that's probably the correct decision. The hunt, made in a scrappy and on-the-fly sort of way that's pretty admirable, and the dissection of layers of centuries-old mistruths are just as engaging with that knowledge.

The film's Philippa, played by Sally Hawkins, is defined by her curiosity and determination, yes, but also by a couple of issues—one of which feels like a screenwriting gimmick that Coogan and Pope didn't fully consider the potential ramifications. At the start, she works an office job, where she's underappreciated and unhappy, and at home, she's raising two sons with the help of her ex-husband John (Coogan), who lives in his own apartment and with whom she has a pretty amicable relationship. The dynamic between the former spouses is a pleasant surprise here—played not for conflict or for some reignited romance but with a sense of mutual respect and support.

As for Philippa's soon-to-be obsession with the historically disgraced king, it comes after she watches a performance of Shakespeare's play and finds the character of Richard to be, despite his treacherous and murderous ways, fairly sympathetic. Philippa suffers from chronic fatigue and knows what it's like to be seen as different or defined by a condition, just as with the case of Richard's hunchback. She starts doing some research into the real man and discovers a local chapter of the Richard III Society, which works to set the record straight on the king. From there, Philippa learns that the king has no grave at which to pay respects, because his body simply disappeared at some point after he was killed in battle.

The rest of the story amounts to some clever detective work, as Philippa contacts various experts—some of whom agree with her belief that Richard was far from the villain everyone assumes he was and others who scoff at such naïveté from a complete amateur—and starts making day trips to Leicester, where the record of Richard's remains has gone cold. While she battles a lot of doubt and what seem to be dead ends, Philippa also has to fight the perception of assorted academics and experts that she's out of her league and, with more than a tinge of sexism, that she trusts her feelings too much.

The biggest issue in the portrayal of Philippa, perhaps, is that, while the story offers all of these internal and external forces for her to contend with, the film also inserts an unnecessary gimmick that almost makes it seem as if Philippa's doubters might be on to something. She has visions of Richard III, in the form of the actor whom she saw play the king on stage (both are played by Harry Lloyd), and speaks to him as if this hallucination or delusion can help her on the search. This conceit takes a little away from the actual work that our protagonist puts into her research, but more importantly, it transforms her into someone who appears irrational in the face of criticism that she is too irrational for this kind of task.

It's a mistake, especially since Hawkins is so good here otherwise as the dogged and thoughtful investigator—as well as because there are so many other angles from which to approach the character and the challenges she faces along the way. In particular, the film's epilogue, which examines how institutions and experts try to change history and modern-day facts to suit their own ends, is far more infuriating than any of the fantastical moments are engaging.

Despite that major issue and the unfortunate rush toward a conclusion that comes from giving that problematic element too much weight, the historical mystery, as well as the dissection of how history is written, really matters here. In other words, the core of The Lost King remains compelling, and that's enough.

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