Starring: Sarah Gadon, Bel Powley, Emily Watson, Jack Reynor, Rupert Everett
A Royal Night Out
Director: Julian Jarrold
Rating: 3.5/5
2015 is set to be a great year for British film, and A Royal Night is one that you really shouldn't miss this weekend.
Julian Jarrold is back in the director's chair for the first time since his adaptation of Brideshead Revisited back in 2008 and A Royal Affair is based on a true story.
VE Day, 1945. Across Europe, people are celebrating the end of the war. London overflows with celebration and excess. Two teenage princesses are allowed out that night to join the party. For the first time they are able to mingle with the teeming crowds, incognito.
Our two teenagers are Margaret (Powley) and the future Queen of England, Elizabeth (Gadon). Home is Buckingham Palace. Inspired by true events, A Royal Night Out is a heart-warming and riotous tale of the Queen witnessing the energy and spirit on this unique night.
A Royal Night Out is a great romp that was nothing like I was expecting. It is an uplifting movie that is as charming as it is funny - it is one of those movies that you can just kick back and enjoy.
I was not aware that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret left the Palace on VE to celebrate with the crowds in London - of course, A Royal Night will have taken artistic liberty with the truth - but it is great to think that the two young royals had a night of freedom and fun at the end of the war.
Sarah Gadon has been making a name for herself in recent years, and she gives a terrific central performance as Elizabeth. She shines with Jack Reynor and the pair's chemistry really does leap off the screen.
Bel Powley is perhaps best known for her role as Bianca Dyke in Benidorm but a Royal Night Out is one of the big film projects that are on the horizon from the young actress. And it is Powley who injects much of the film's comedy as Margaret - who loses Elizabeth once they are out of the Palace.
Emily Watson and Rupert Everett bring some gravitas to the film; however, these two great actors are never really stretched. Having said that, they give two great performances as worried parents.
There is an energy to A Royal Affair that just sweeps you away and you can't help but get lost in the story and the humour.
Jarrold has got under the facade of Elizabeth and Margaret and turned them into normal and everyday girls - they just wanted to be out and celebrating with the rest of the city and the country. The performances of both Gadon and Powley help melt those facades away to reveal to fun loving girls that have a great relationship and are incredibly funny.
A Royal Night Out really is a movie that is terrific fun, heart-warming and incredibly charming - you really will leave the cinema with a huge smile on your face.