Movie · 2019 · Drama, History, War · 2h 20m · R · English
Curator score: 4.1/10 (178.2K ratings)
All hail.
Overview
England, 15th century. Hal, a capricious prince who lives among the populace far from court, is forced by circumstances to reluctantly accept the throne and become Henry V.
Ratings
Curator score: 4.1/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 62
TMDB: 7.2/10
Director
David Michôd
Production
Plan B Entertainment, Porchlight Films, Blue-Tongue Films, Yoki
Cast
Timothée Chalamet, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Tom Glynn-Carney, Lily-Rose Depp, Thomasin McKenzie, Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Andrew Havill, Dean-Charles Chapman, Steven Elder, Edward Ashley, Stephen Fewell, Tara Fitzgerald, Tom Fisher, Tom Lawrence, Ivan Kaye, Gábor Czap, Josef Davies, Roderick Hill
Where to watch
Netflix
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody, stripped-down medieval drama with strong atmosphere and a committed central performance, but it takes broad liberties with history and can feel more like a prestige mood piece than a fully satisfying war epic. The film’s best assets are its production design, somber tone, and the uneasy political transition at its center.
Best for
Viewers who like grim historical dramas with a modern sensibility
Fans of court intrigue and reluctant-ruler stories
People who enjoy atmospheric battle scenes over strict historical accuracy
Audiences interested in a more introspective take on Henry V
Skip if
You want rigorous historical realism
You prefer rousing, conventional war epics
You are put off by stylized dialogue and occasional tonal stiffness
You want a film with a warmer emotional center
Overview
The King is less a sweeping history lesson than a brooding character study about power, inheritance, and the cost of becoming a legend. It follows Hal as he moves from disaffected prince to burdened monarch, and the film is most effective when it treats kingship as a trap rather than a triumph.
Worth noting
David Michôd stages the material with grit and restraint, favoring mud, steel, and political dread over pageantry. The battle sequences have weight, but the film’s real interest is in the uneasy alliances and betrayals that shape Hal’s rise.
Bottom line
It’s not a fully seamless movie: the script can feel compressed, and the historical liberties are obvious. Still, the atmosphere is strong, the supporting cast adds bite, and the whole thing has enough seriousness and texture to reward viewers who like their period dramas bleak and unsentimental.
Top Letterboxd reviews
catherine · 8427 likes
I can't watch this without thinking about the "timothée shouldn't be in period pieces because he looks like he knows what an iphone is" tweet
Abbey (4★) · 5801 likes
Hearing Robert Pattinson tell timothée chalamet that he's going to drain his blood and the whole theater laughing...the twilight era lives on
alex (2.5★) · 4265 likes
rob pattinson said i respect accent coaches but that's not for me.
🤎jess🤎 (3.5★) · 3282 likes
robert pattinson: giant balls! tiny cock! huehehehe
me: academy award!
harley (0.5★) · 3105 likes
there’s a scene in this film where someone comes to fight timothee chalamet and his brother is like “you can fight me instead” and the guy goes “i don’t want to fight you, little dog i want to fight the BIG dog” and then timothee shimmies out from between two huge men holding a sword that weighs more than him and says something like “i’m here lets duel” and it really made me chuckle