The Lost King

After a night at the theatre Philippa Langley becomes fixated on Richard III. She lives with myalgic encephalomyelitis, is invisible at work and taken seriously by nobody. She joins the Richard III Society, does the research and concludes the king was buried at Greyfriars priory. The dig happens in a Leicester car park and the skeleton turns up within hours. Stephen Frears directed. Sally Hawkins plays Langley, with the archaeologist Richard Buckley running the excavation. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 77 percent, the consensus saying the film is curiously bland compared with the remarkable real story, and that Hawkins's performance saves it. The Evening Standard called her work Oscar-worthy. It ended up in court. The University of Leicester disputed the portrayal, saying Langley was not sidelined and that they worked together throughout; Langley said she was excluded from the February 2013 press conference announcing the discovery. Richard Taylor, the university official played by Lee Ingleby, sued for defamation. In June 2024 a judge ruled the portrayal defamatory. The case settled in October 2025 with substantial damages paid to Taylor and an onscreen clarification added to the film. Who it is for: viewers who like true stories of discovery and want to watch Hawkins. Who it is not for: anyone who would take the account at face value. Part of it was found defamatory in court, and the film now circulates with a correction attached.