After making The Queen over a decade ago, Stephen Frears is returning to direct another film about high royalty, but this time Queen Victoria. Victoria & Abdul, starring Judi Dench and Ali Fazal depicts the friendship between the 19th century Queen and a young clerk hailing from India. Ahead of a fall release, Focus Features have now debuted the first trailer.
As with Frears’ recent films, it looks to be a warm genial dramedy that we’d bet makes its bow at Toronto International Film Festival ahead of its debut. Also starring Adeel Akhtar, Simon Callow, Michael Gambon, Eddie Izzard, Ruth McCabe, Tim Pigott-Smith, Julian Wadham, Olivia Williams, and Fenella Woolgar, check out the trailer and poster below.
The extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) remarkable rule. When Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal), a young clerk, travels from India to participate in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, he is surprised to find favor with the Queen herself. As the Queen questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance with a loyalty to one another that her household and inner circle all attempt to destroy. As the friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes and joyfully reclaims her humanity.
Victoria & Abdul opens on September 22, 2017.