Review of A Royal Night Out (2015) by Foxgrove — 02 Jan 2016

A lot better than the tacky misconceived premise promised by the trailer, this is actually quite an accomplished entertainment. The unlikely scenario set on V E day in 1945 has the two princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, enjoying an unsolicited night in the West End.

The screenplay is actually quite credibly conceived and executed with a fair amount of humour which is accentuated by the playing of the cast. Sarah Gadon and Bel Powley, as Elizabeth and Margaret respectively, are delightfully convincing and really rather good.

Rupert Everett and Emily Watson are also equal to the task of portraying George V and the Queen mother, the girls’ concerned parents. Sporting plummy accents the two effortlessly up the film’s pedigree and humour quotient.

Production values are surprisingly high. Buckingham Palace truly looks like the real location from my memories of a visit there and the costumes, make-up, and choice of music representing the period are all outstanding.

The cinematography, which mainly takes place at night, is luminous and director Julian Jarrold’s imaginative choice of camera angles elevates the drama from the TV movie look it could otherwise have had.

All in all this can be considered a surprising success.