The Happy Prince

Name: The Happy Prince
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Released: October 10, 2018
Duration: 105 min
Rating: 64
Cast: Anna Chancellor, Antonio Spagnuolo, Béatrice Dalle, Colin Firth, Colin Morgan

2018

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

See All

6.6

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.6	Your Score
6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Happy Prince

Now Playing: The Happy Prince

Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 10, 2018 | R

Starring: Anna Chancellor, Antonio Spagnuolo, Béatrice Dalle, Colin Firth, Colin Morgan, Edwin Thomas, Emily Watson, Franca Abategiovanni, Jacky Druaux, Joshua McGuire, Julian Wadham, Kit Lloyd, Rupert Everett, Thierry de Coster, Tom Wilkinson

Summary: In a cheap Parisian hotel room Oscar Wilde lies on his death bed and the past floods back, transporting him to other times and places. Was he once the most famous man in London? The artist crucified by a society that once worshiped him? The lover imprisoned and freed, yet still running towards ruin in the final chapter of his life? UnderIn a cheap Parisian hotel room Oscar Wilde lies on his death bed and the past floods back, transporting him to other times and places. Was he once the most famous man in London? The artist crucified by a society that once worshiped him? The lover imprisoned and freed, yet still running towards ruin in the final chapter of his life? Under the microscope of death he reviews the failed attempt to reconcile with his long suffering wife Constance, the ensuing reprisal of his fatal love affair with Lord Alfred Douglas and the warmth and devotion of Robbie Ross who tried and failed to save him from himself. From Dieppe to Naples to Paris freedom is elusive and Oscar is a penniless vagabond, always moving on, shunned by his old acquaintances, but revered by a strange group of outlaws and urchins to whom he tells the old stories - his incomparable wit still sharp. [Sony Pictures Classics]… Expand

Director: Rupert Everett

Genre(s): Biography, Drama, History

Rating: R

Runtime: 105 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

Tiffany Tchobanian

Oct 5, 2018

Everett looks at home in this role and breathes new life into Wilde. The Happy Prince proves that Rupert Everett was born to tell the tumultuous story of a kindred spirit. Oscar Wilde would be proud. Read full review

David Edelstein

The Happy Prince proves that a film can be both bleak and warm-spirited, as befits its mighty subject. Read full review

Gary Goldstein

Oct 9, 2018

It’s a film of decided care and forethought. Read full review

Mark Jenkins

Oct 15, 2018

Fortunately, the maudlin moments are offset by fine performances, flashes of humor and a visual sense that’s more astute than the script. Read full review

Guy Lodge

As a final, permanent showcase for a role Everett was born to play, then, The Happy Prince does the job. For all its passion-project hallmarks, however, it makes a shakier case for him being the filmmaker to bring it to screen. Read full review

The Playlist Gregory Ellwood

It’s well crafted and compelling at times thanks mostly to the casts’ efforts, but there is an emptiness that permeates through the film as if a significant piece of Wilde’s demise is missing. Read full review

Samantha Incorvaia

Oct 10, 2018

The goal here was to show the tragic downfall of a once-praised hero, similar to the actual poem written by Wilde with the same name. But because of the lack of depth in supporting characters and half-baked writing, this movie couldn't have ended fast enough. Read full review

SEE ALL 26 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

justwibi

Oct 25, 2018

Rupert Everett passion and patience is pay very very well. it's not perfect but there's a heart in this film.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

GinaK

Nov 1, 2018

Rupert Everett directs an absorbing film about the final years of Oscar Wilde, which he also wrote. You can tell that Everett is an actor, since his film is beautifully cast with other wonderful British actors. For example, Emily Watson is excellent as Wilde’s long-suffering wife ConstanceRupert Everett directs an absorbing film about the final years of Oscar Wilde, which he also wrote. You can tell that Everett is an actor, since his film is beautifully cast with other wonderful British actors. For example, Emily Watson is excellent as Wilde’s long-suffering wife Constance and likewise Colin Firth as his friend Reggie Turner. Colin Morgan is close to perfect as Bosie, and superb character actors like Tom Wilkinson add to the acting richness of the film. Actor Everett dominates with a sympathetic and nuanced performance as Wilde, and does a very good (if not great) job as director. For example, I wish Everett had included more about Wilde’s great London successes, which would have made the film richer and more comprehensible to non-British audiences.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Tricko2103

Aug 13, 2020

I’m surprised at the somewhat lukewarm reviews here. I really like this film, particularly the grimy but beautiful look of it which evokes 19th century Europe so well you can almost smell it. It’s sentimental, sure, but I think it resonates well with the story of Wilde’s last years. He was aI’m surprised at the somewhat lukewarm reviews here. I really like this film, particularly the grimy but beautiful look of it which evokes 19th century Europe so well you can almost smell it. It’s sentimental, sure, but I think it resonates well with the story of Wilde’s last years. He was a sentimentalist, after all, as well as a narcissist, a satirist and a charmer, and all of these qualities are legible through the melancholia of the story. Beautiful performances, as others have noted.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

TVJerry

Nov 5, 2018

Rupert Everett wrote, directed and stars as Oscar Wilde. Most of the story takes place after he's released from his jail, wandering around Europe desperate and sometimes destitute. There are flashbacks to his days of fame and happiness, but it primarily presents a broken man. This might haveRupert Everett wrote, directed and stars as Oscar Wilde. Most of the story takes place after he's released from his jail, wandering around Europe desperate and sometimes destitute. There are flashbacks to his days of fame and happiness, but it primarily presents a broken man. This might have been less bleak if there were more flashes of his brilliant wit, but as it is, there's lots of introspection and mild misery. Through the hardship, there's tenderness and support from friends that makes it more empathetic. Everett gives a nuanced, absorbing performance and does well with his other responsibilities. Still, it feels slight, lacking the dramatic impact or the incisive dialogue that would have elevated this portrayal.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

OlivierPiel

Oct 11, 2018

The professional critics are disappointed by the movie. It is indeed a bit sentimental, a bit too formulaic, which Wilde himself would have panned. If it is not a work of art, it is still a good piece of story-telling: well paced, well photographed and well acted. It is not enthralling butThe professional critics are disappointed by the movie. It is indeed a bit sentimental, a bit too formulaic, which Wilde himself would have panned. If it is not a work of art, it is still a good piece of story-telling: well paced, well photographed and well acted. It is not enthralling but it is entertaining. Compared to the drivel offered these days, we should be thankful for that.… Expand

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

Brent_Marchant

Nov 8, 2018

It boggles the mind how a film can take someone as witty and colorful as Oscar Wilde and make the character boring, but that's precisely what writer/actor/director Rupert Everett has done in this misfire of a biopic. By all rights, the picture is obviously a labor of love for its creator,It boggles the mind how a film can take someone as witty and colorful as Oscar Wilde and make the character boring, but that's precisely what writer/actor/director Rupert Everett has done in this misfire of a biopic. By all rights, the picture is obviously a labor of love for its creator, but, with a focus on Wilde's last dark days, a needlessly convoluted script that's all over the map and a noticeable dearth of the snappy banter that made its protagonist famous, the production falls flat and often confuses the viewer with its forward and backward flashes in the action. Handily one of awards season's bigger disappointments.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

GreatMartin

Oct 26, 2018

I was looking forward to seeing "The Happy Prince" as 1) I am a big fan of Rupert Everett who hasn't been doing much in films for quite awhile and 2) I admire Oscar Wilde's writings and witticisms.
I read that Everett has been trying to get this film made for 10 years and even did it onI was looking forward to seeing "The Happy Prince" as 1) I am a big fan of Rupert Everett who hasn't been doing much in films for quite awhile and 2) I admire Oscar Wilde's writings and witticisms.
I read that Everett has been trying to get this film made for 10 years and even did it on stage for 2 years. He got Colin Firth, Emily Watson and Tom Wilkinson to star along with him plus gave Colin Morgan and Edwin Thomas major roles and all deal well with the material given them.
The major problem with "The Happy Prince" is the material, the screenplay written by Everett. He, also, directed and stars in the film which seems too much of a burden that he should have shared by either giving the directing or the screenplay to someone else to do.
Instead of concentrating on Wilde's life after his imprisonment Everett brings in too much of his life before and in turn going back and forth in decades to the point of confusion from Wilde's telling his story of "The Happy Prince" to his own two sons to a street boy and his brother and completely making a puzzle of Lord Alfred Douglas also known as Bosie who was responsible for Wilde's being sentenced to hard labor as a sodomite and his downfall. Bosie also causes Wilde the loss of his income and sons. How Robbie Ross became so important to his life and the role he played has to be just accepted by the audience just as Reggie Turner is without explanation.
With make-up, prosthetics and padding plus acting Rupert Everett gives us a well rounded Oscar Wilde in despair, a failure, a man unable to cope with who he was and who he is after being shunned by all who praised him before. With the destruction of a man who was considered a great playwright the screenwriter/director fails to make the audience feel the despair this man went through after being found guilty on charges of gross decency or of being one of many who did not talk about "the love that dare not speaks its name" and were persecuted for it.
Aside from going back and forth in time and countries not to mention debauchery "The Happy Prince" is pretty dark in the filming and photography while understandable with many places lit just by candlelight gets no relief when outdoors.
Possibly my expectations were too high or I was looking for something that wasn't there. I thought I knew a lot about Wilde's life but people such as Robbie Ross and Reggie Turner were strange names to me and I was hoping to learn more about these two men who were so important to Wilde in his downfall.
I found "The Happy Prince" to be a boring film about an incredible man.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

SEE ALL 8 REVIEWS