The Lost King
IFC Films | Release Date: March 24, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
11
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldMar 23, 2023
It’s a feel-good film about dreams, about obsession, about believing in yourself when nobody else seems to be doing it for you, and Hawkins carries it with effortless ease. Read full review
88
ObserverEmily ZemlerMar 22, 2023
Stephen Frears’ latest based-on-a-true story onscreen endeavor is at the same time compelling and endearing, perhaps because at its core it’s a story about the common man triumphing over naysayers. Read full review
85
Film ThreatMichael Talbot-Haynes
The story twists and struggles keep engaging through, whether you know the outcome or not. Read full review
83
Original-CinKaren GordonMar 23, 2023
The Lost King is a wonderfully satisfying movie. It gives both Philippa her due, and shows us how she not only found, but helped redeem the reputation of King Richard the third. Take that, Shakespeare. Read full review
80
TimeStephanie ZacharekMar 24, 2023
With his charming, sympathetic picture The Lost King, Stephen Frears digs into the fairly recent rehabilitation of the misunderstood monarch’s legacy—as well as the 2012 discovery of his long-lost bones beneath a Leicester parking lot. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshMar 23, 2023
It’s a film that calls into question our own biases and accepted notions and encourages one to get out there and find the truth — it could be an adventure after all. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMar 23, 2023
Though raising serious questions about the way history is written, and by whom, The Lost King isn’t a polemic, or even a biopic. It’s a quietly droll detective story, a warm portrait of a woman who lost her health and found her purpose, exhuming her self-respect along with Richard’s bones. Read full review
80
VarietyOwen Gleiberman
A richer, stronger, and more moving piece of work [than Philomena], a historical detective story that carries the kick of a true-life “Da Vinci Code.” Read full review
75
The Associated PressJake CoyleMar 23, 2023
It’s the kind of comic, eminently British underdog story that Frears excels at. And with Sally Hawkins playing Langley as a woman undeterred by pompous academics and condescending naysayers, The Lost King makes for a charmingly droll tale of long-ago and not-so-long-ago reappraisal. Read full review
75
Washington PostAnn HornadayMar 21, 2023
With Hawkins’s alternately elfin and flinty performance at its center, The Lost King winds up being a paean to amateurism and unconventionality. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreMar 8, 2023
A featherweight little charmer. Read full review
75
TheWrapCarlos Aguilar
What prevents this life-affirming account from turning boringly saccharine is the caliber of humanity that Hawkins lends Philippa. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 29, 2023
The fact that The Lost King never quite reconciles this tension between striving for noble recognition and the fallacy of divine majesty feels like an implicit damnation of both. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalKyle SmithMar 23, 2023
Expert dramatists know how to develop suspense from the intricacy of details even when the end result is known to the audience, and Mr. Frears does so in the rousing final third of the film. Read full review
70
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 23, 2023
It has one big thing in its favor: Sally Hawkins’ performance as Langley. She’s perfectly cast, which, as a general rule, does not always translate into a perfect performance. Not so here. Read full review
70
Screen DailyWendy Ide
A winning, if whimsical, account of an ordinary woman achieving the extraordinary. Read full review
70
Vanity FairDavid Canfield
One lovely wisp of a movie. ... Offers few surprises but plenty of comfort. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerMar 22, 2023
Obsession is what they call it when you're wrong. When you're right, it's called conviction, and that's the story behind The Lost King, the remarkable, charming, and true-ish tale of Philippa Langley (Hawkins), the amateur historian who made one of the most important archeological discoveries of the century. Read full review
67
ColliderRoss Bonaime
Like so many of Frears’ films, The Lost King works because of the compelling cast on hand. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyMar 24, 2023
The Lost King gets sidetracked. Still, it's a great story! Read full review
60
The TelegraphRobbie Collin
Flawed but compelling ... [A] hallucinatory gimmick feels a few rewrites away from working smoothly, and the thematic linking of Philippa’s plight with that of her subject’s never quite convinces. But Hawkins is quietly impressive. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly Richards
Langley has a tough time persuading people to care as much about Richard III as she does, and so does this film. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn Nugent
Warmly funny and historically curious, Sally Hawkins’ spirited, humane performance helps overcome a slight lack of dramatic tension. Read full review
60
The Observer (UK)Mark Kermode
Whatever its inconsistencies, The Lost King is an underdog story that proves a perfect vehicle for Hawkins’s reliably winning screen presence. Read full review
58
IndieWireKate Erbland
By its final act ... “The Lost King” picks up enough steam ... yet even this last 40 or so minutes highlights how plodding the rest of the film is, how dull this story about literal grave-digging feels, when nothing less than elemental truth and a singular mission in life are reduced to, well, just a story, and not even an altogether real one at that. Read full review
58
The PlaylistGregory Ellwood
In a vacuum, Langley’s true story is quite remarkable, but sadly, the elements don’t truly come together in this somewhat by-the-numbers film. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 20, 2023
The real story of the King Richard dig is fascinating, but the movie, directed by Stephen Frears (“Cheri,” “The Queen”), is just OK. Read full review
48
Paste MagazineJacob Oller
The writers are so afraid that we won’t feel the right thing that they embrace a self-effacing humor that ensures we don’t feel anything. Read full review
40
Screen RantAlex HarrisonApr 5, 2023
The problem is one of focus, and had the movie trusted its protagonist enough to let her be the true center, it might have provided a viewing experience worth recommending. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse Loughrey
Its self-congratulatory crusade to restore its subject’s reputation has, for the sake of entertainment, distorted reality to the point that it borders on farce. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter Bradshaw
It’s a fascinating story but the resulting film insists on a kooky relatability that isn’t really there. A misfire. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSeth KatzMar 23, 2023
The film, a shabby account of the story behind the story, muddles its themes and only superficially conveys the importance of the historical insights it contains. Read full review
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