The Queen
Metascore
91 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 37 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 37 out of 37
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 37
  3. Negative: 0 out of 37
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    The Queen is a spellbinding story of opposed passions -- of Elizabeth's icy resolve to keep the royal family separate and aloof from the death of the divorced Diana, who was legally no longer a royal, and of Blair's correct reading of the public mood.
  2. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    100
    All hail the great Helen Mirren, who after her triumph in HBO's "Elizabeth," delivers the performance of a lifetime as that monarch's frumpy, 20th century namesake in Stephen Frear's witty, touching and engrossing The Queen.
  3. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    100
    Piercingly funny and unexpectedly moving account of that odd couple, Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) and HRH Elizabeth II (majestic Helen Mirren) and their back-channels affair.
  4. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    100
    An absolute delight, combining the cheap thrills of a biopic with the gentler, but more lasting, pleasures of a brilliant character study.
  5. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    100
    The Queen is the kind of thought-provoking, well-written and savvy film that discerning filmgoers long for but rarely get.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    100
    A subtle, often very funny, ultimately touching tragedy of royal manners and meaning.
  7. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    100
    Helen Mirren gives the mostly subtly expressive performance based on a living historical figure that I've ever seen.
  8. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    100
    So magnificent in so many ways that, for the first time, it seems to raise the docudrama to high art.
  9. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    100
    Mirren brings intellect, humor and romance to the role of Elizabeth II.
  10. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    100
    The Queen is the most reverent irreverent comedy imaginable. Or maybe it's the most irreverent reverent comedy. Either way, it's a small masterpiece.
  11. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    100
    Politically shrewd, unexpectedly funny yet immaculately tasteful docudrama.
  12. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    100
    A sublimely nimble evisceration of that cult of celebrity known as the British royal family.
  13. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    Helen Mirren's allure lies not in finding what's regal in every woman she plays, but in finding what's womanly in every royal.
  14. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    91
    The Queen is all-together remarkable not only for what it is but for what it isn't.
  15. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    91
    Mirren begins the film having her portrait painted, looking every inch the monarch and proud to play the part. By the end, she's let the pressure of one week, and maybe a lifetime, show in her eyes.
  16. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    90
    A fascinating mix of high-minded gossip and historical perspective, examines the clash of values -- of ritual and traditions versus media savvy and political ambition -- that leads to a crisis for the British monarchy.
  17. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    90
    Mirren's performance is glorious: Rather than impersonate the queen -- which would have been all too easy to do -- she reaches deeper to locate the buried, calcified thoughts and feelings that might guide this deeply inscrutable woman.
  18. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    In a commanding performance that is as compelling as it is unexpected, Mirren has turned The Queen into something you never imagined it could be: a crackling dramatic story that's intelligent, thoughtful and moving.
  19. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: Barbara Kantrowitz
    90
    Marvelous, and surprisingly intimate.
  20. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    90
    Helen Mirren is a goddess of an actress, and her Queen Elizabeth is maddening, hilarious, and deeply human, galumphing around the Balmoral estate in a tartan raincoat and waders as the Britain she thought she knew crumbles around her.
  21. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    90
    Tradition and informality collide -- and mutually benefit -- in the deliciously written and expertly played The Queen.
  22. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    90
    Marvelously smart, funny and entertaining film.
    All this critic's reviews
  23. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    90
    Helen Mirren's flinty performance as Elizabeth II is getting all the attention, but equally impressive is Peter Morgan's insightful script for this UK drama, which quietly teases out the social, political, and historical implications of the 1997 death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
  24. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    89
    The Queen is palace intrigue at its finest.
  25. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    One of the best and liveliest movies of the year - funny and touching in ways you can't predict.
  26. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    88
    The film goes pretty easy on the royals in the end, and it's a flattering portrait of Blair. But it's not credulous. Frears may swim in the political mainstream with The Queen but he does so like a champion channel crosser.
  27. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    88
    In some ways, The Queen is a comedy of manners - bad, good and archaic. The formal bowing and scraping surrounding Her Majesty is as hilarious as it is (apparently) accurate.
  28. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    88
    Mirren, who's played her share of queens in the past, is hypnotic.
  29. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Aaron Hillis
    88
    The Queen is a surprisingly compassionate portrait (excepting Blair's reactionary wife with the "shallow curtsy") of a rigid pragmatist in denial over the monarchy's out-of-touch dysfunction.
  30. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    88
    Succeeding where most docudramas fail, it turns a slice of recent history into a revealingly intelligent entertainment, without being didactic at one extreme or sentimental at the other.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
6.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 300 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 92 out of 130
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 130
  3. Negative: 24 out of 130
  1. PatL.
    5
    I wonder if the reviewers would have been less enamored of this film had it been someone other than Queen Elizabeth being portrayed. No argument: Helen Mirren was marvelous in capturing the subtleties and repressed feelings of her character, but to what end? It wasn't particularly interesting, and it certainly wasn't entertaining. To its credit, this film didn't "go Hollywood" with the royal family, but a meandering trip to Dullsville is no better.… Full Review »
  2. TonyB.
    8
    "The Queen" shows that in today's film industry there are still intelligent people who make intelligent motion pictures for intelligent audiences.… Full Review »
  3. Mary
    3
    I am amazed by the adulatory critics' reviews. Helen Mirren does a great job, of course, but she cannot single-handedly save the film. The screenplay is clumsy and the characters are all caricatures.… Full Review »
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