Victoria & Abdul

You don't need another "must-watch drama" list — Victoria & Abdul earns the spot regardless. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Judi Dench sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Victoria & Abdul is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. The writing in Victoria & Abdul treats its characters as people first, plot devices second. Queen Victoria strikes up an unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk named Abdul Karim. Judi Dench and Ali Fazal lead a cast doing genuinely serious work here. Victoria & Abdul came out in 2017. The performances in Victoria & Abdul do a lot of work in the silences between the dialogue. It delivers reliably on what it promises, which is more than most of its competition manages.

Victoria & Abdul is what you recommend to people who say they do not really watch much. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Judi Dench is the centre of it, and it is one of their strongest performances on record. The patience it asks of you early on is paid back with interest.

Victoria & Abdul was released in 2017, directed by Stephen Frears. The full 112-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.