--- title: "King Charles III" year: 2017 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/king-charles-iii" fi1m_id: "king-charles-iii" imdb_id: "tt6253522" tmdb_id: 456187 wikidata_id: "Q30606729" fi1m_score: 73 critics_reviews: 2 published: "2026-10-07T18:25:27.632321+00:00" updated: "2026-10-07T18:25:28.456202+00:00" region: "PH" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # King Charles III (2017) Directed by Rupert Goold · 1h 29m · Drama ## Identity King Charles III - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/king-charles-iii - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** king-charles-iii - **IMDb ID:** tt6253522 - **TMDB ID:** 456187 - **Wikidata ID:** Q30606729 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6253522/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/456187, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30606729 **Fi1m score: 73** · Critics: 2 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* Tim Pigott-Smith makes a persuasive case for letting Charles finish his sentence > Tim Pigott-Smith makes *King Charles III* worth the effort. Mike Bartlett’s blank verse gives Charles dignity but can become wearing, while the unlikely politics need indulgence; this darkly funny drama rewards an appetite for formal language. ## Synopsis Charles (Tim Pigott-Smith) is at the centre of *King Charles III*, with William (Oliver Chris), Kate Middleton (Charlotte Riley) and Prime Minister Tristram Evans (Adam James) among the other principal figures. Harry (Richard Goulding), Camilla (Margot Leicester) and Jess (Tamara Lawrance) also form part of the drama. Mike Bartlett writes their exchanges in blank verse, giving political discussion the rhythm of a stage tragedy. Rupert Goold directs this 89-minute film, which combines political drama with tragedy and dark humour. ## Review *King Charles III* is worth watching for Tim Pigott-Smith, whose Charles makes an unlikely political tragedy feel personal. Rupert Goold directs Mike Bartlett’s drama with a seriousness that suits its central performance, though the sustained blank verse makes a considerable demand on the ear. We recommend it to anyone with an appetite for talk and political drama. The qualification matters: the writing sometimes insists on formality long after we have accepted the convention. Charles needs to interest us as a person if this is to work, and Tim Pigott-Smith gives him enough dignity to hold our attention. We were moved by the seriousness with which he speaks the verse. He makes the formal language sound like something this man needs to explain himself, and the feelings remain recognisable even when the circumstances stretch belief. He earns our sympathy without asking us to agree with Charles. That performance keeps the film’s more questionable ideas from becoming fatal to it. Mike Bartlett’s writing is less consistent. The blank verse gives the drama gravity and a useful distance from ordinary political conversation; nobody need mistake this for a transcript. It also helps the humour, because the language retains its composure while the material grows darkly absurd. Yet an entire film pitched this way needs changes of pace and pressure. There are stretches when we find ourselves noticing the effort of the phrasing more than the thought being expressed. The same imbalance affects the visual work. Philippe Kress’s cinematography and Andrew McAlpine’s production design are supporting contributions here, and neither distracts from the actors. That restraint is sensible, although the film’s visual choices do less to hold our attention than its leading performance. Rupert Goold keeps the writing central to the experience. We sometimes wanted a stronger sense of what the camera could contribute beyond giving us access to the speaking. Elen Pierce Lewis’s editing faces a related problem. At 89 minutes, this is a compact film, yet the verse can make individual passages feel longer than they need to be. The pacing is most persuasive when the language is allowed to gather force without our becoming conscious of its demands. Jocelyn Pook’s music contributes less to our sense of momentum than the speech does. That leaves a considerable amount resting on the delivery of each sentence. Political implausibility is the other reservation, and a larger one than the occasional stiffness. A drama about public power has to persuade us that its people might behave this way, however unlikely their situation. Here the wish to create a tragedy occasionally seems to determine the behaviour before the characters have had much say in it. The intelligence and dark humour survive that pressure. But we have to supply some belief that the writing ought to have earned, particularly when the drama asks to be taken most seriously. This calls for a particular sort of attention, and its brevity should not be mistaken for lightness. Watching while doing something else would make the formal speech an obstacle almost immediately. We would give the actors time to make the language sound natural, while accepting that some passages remain more laborious than they should. Save it for an evening when there is time to listen. *Fi1m score 73, published 7 October 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is King Charles III worth watching?** *King Charles III* is worth watching for Tim Pigott-Smith’s sympathetic performance and its darkly funny political drama; we score it 73 out of 100. We recommend it to anyone with an appetite for formal language, though the sustained blank verse can become wearing and the unlikely politics require some indulgence. **How long is King Charles III, and what is it rated?** *King Charles III* runs 1h 29m. It is a drama film. **Where can I watch King Charles III in the Philippines?** *King Charles III* is available to rent from Apple TV from ₱149.00. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service. **How does King Charles III compare to The Lion in Winter?** *King Charles III* offers a more formally demanding royal quarrel than [*The Lion in Winter*](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter), which we favour for the combative exchanges between O’Toole and Hepburn. Both turn family tensions into politics, but Pigott-Smith’s dignity is the chief attraction here; Bartlett’s blank verse and the implausible politics require more patience, while the other film’s plotting circles without exhausting its leads. **What should I watch after King Charles III?** After *King Charles III*, try [*The Lion in Winter*](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter) (1968, Fi1m 81): Royal family quarrels sharpen into politics, with nobody inclined to forgive. Then [*The Madness of King George*](https://film.one/film/the-madness-of-king-george) (1994, Fi1m 83): A monarch’s vulnerability becomes a matter for doctors, ministers and relatives; and [*Coriolanus*](https://film.one/film/coriolanus) (2011, Fi1m 74): Formal language meets modern political violence, with equally little room for compromise. ### Reviews we read (2) - **Los Angeles Times**, Robert Lloyd (75/100, inferred): Lloyd finds the production a smart, dark, amusing good time despite its far-fetched events. He praises Tim Pigott-Smith’s moving portrayal of Charles and the dignity of Bartlett’s blank verse. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-king-charles-review-20170513-story.html) - **The Guardian**, Sam Wollaston (75/100, inferred): Wollaston finds the adaptation a sharp, politically relevant tragedy, though its sustained blank verse can feel excessive on television. He especially praises Tim Pigott-Smith’s mesmerising and poignant final performance as Charles. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2017/may/11/king-charles-iii-review-shakespearean-tragedy-phone-hacking-tim-pigott-smith) ## Details - **Director:** Rupert Goold - **Director:** Rupert Goold - **Writer:** Mike Bartlett - **Cinematography:** Philippe Kress - **Editor:** Elen Pierce Lewis - **Music:** Jocelyn Pook - **Production design:** Andrew McAlpine - **Costume design:** Louise Stjernsward - **Producer:** Simon Maloney - **Cast:** Tim Pigott-Smith as Charles; Charlotte Riley as Kate Middleton; Oliver Chris as William; Adam James as Prime Minister Tristram Evans; Richard Goulding as Harry; Max Bennett as Coottsey; Tamara Lawrance as Jess; Margot Leicester as Camilla - **Runtime:** 1h 29m - **First release (the UK):** 10 May 2017 - **Genres:** Drama ## Where to watch in the Philippines - Apple TV: rent ₱149.00, hd - Apple TV: buy ₱399.00, sd *Checked 2026-10-07.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BG, BR, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, FI, GB, GR, HU, IE, IL, LT, MX, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, SE, SG, TH, UA, VN. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *The Lion in Winter* (1968), Fi1m 81: Royal family quarrels sharpen into politics, with nobody inclined to forgive. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lion-in-winter.md) - *The Madness of King George* (1994), Fi1m 83: A monarch’s vulnerability becomes a matter for doctors, ministers and relatives. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-madness-of-king-george.md) - *Coriolanus* (2011), Fi1m 74: Formal language meets modern political violence, with equally little room for compromise. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/coriolanus.md) - *A Royal Affair* (2012), Fi1m 70: Private feeling and public power collide inside a tightly governed court. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-royal-affair.md) - *The Death of Louis XIV* (2016): Courtly ceremony grows oppressive around a king whose body is failing. --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/king-charles-iii