Everyone has their “thing,” and some interests are a bit more niche than others. Take Philippa Langley, a writer inspired by her attendance at a staging of Shakespeare’s Richard III to clear the name of the ruler cast as a villain, going so far as to commission a dig that she hopes will reveal his final resting place. Sally Hawkins plays Langley in Stephen Frears’ entertaining and involving The Lost King…
The opening titles and accompanying music position this story as a thriller of sorts with an upbeat adventurous tone. Langley imagines seeing Richard III (Harry Lloyd) after she sees the play, haunted by him and determined to show the world that they are wrong about a man deemed an illegitimate ruler. With lackluster support from her generally congenial ex-husband (Steve Coogan, who co-wrote the script with Jeff Pope), she sets out to find others who feel passionately and prove that Richard has been misjudged and unfairly maligned.
There should be a relatability to how Langley’s mission begins for any movie lover, when she feels compelled to action by an ignorant comment from an obnoxious fellow attendee at the play. Is there any more motivating reason to champion a work you liked than to show someone else they don’t know what they’re talking about? It’s also enlightening to see how defenders of a generally poorly-liked figure band together to provide a different perspective, something offered, for instance, at the presidential library in Iowa dedicated to President Herbert Hoover’s controversial term that culminated in the beginning of the Great Depression.
Whatever your feelings on - or interest in - Richard III, Hawkins has just the right energy to embody Langley, who doesn’t care what others think of her and who gets entirely wrapped up in this quest, eventually showing those around her that she knows what she’s doing. Coogan and Pope’s script, following their work together on Philomena, is both respectful and playful, highlighted by Langley’s encounters with the hallucinated monarch and her persistence despite no one having faith in her. It’s an affirming and fun story that also has the benefit of being based on truth, paying heartfelt tribute to one woman who refused to be told that she had the wrong idea. B+
The Lost King is screening in the Special Presentations category at TIFF and will be released in the US by IFC Films at some point.