Philippa (Sally Hawkins) is in a rut.  She is overlooked at work, and at home, she and her soon-to-be ex-husband, John (Steve Coogan), are trying to navigate joint custody of their two sons, Raife (Benjamin Scanlan) and Max (Adam Robb).  After attending a performance of William Shakespeare’s Richard III of questionable historic accuracy, Philippa becomes inspired to research the besmirched King of England and eventually is consumed with the desire to uncover his unmarked grave, give him proper funeral honors, and restore his name in the historical record.  

Stephen Frears directs The Lost King for an IFC Films release in the states from a script penned by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, based on Philippa Langley’s book recounting her work in finding Richard’s remains.  The inspiring British drama runs a clean 108 minutes, balancing the muddied history that spawned various rumors about Richard’s legitimacy, legacy, and demise, as well as striking up moments of humor and levity that make the film an assessable experience for the whole family. 

Hawkins leads the film in a surprisingly difficult role given the premise of the film.  She finds herself throughout the course of the story conversing with an apparition of King Richard III (Harry Lloyd), himself in a largely silent role nodding yes or no to Philippa as she grows closer or farther away from a potential lead.  The device is just as awkward for us to witness as the audience as it is for her sons to see their mother holding conversations with herself, but Hawkins builds up trust with us so that we believe in her cause and want to see her succeed. 

The biggest flaw of the film is that the challenge is presented as far too easy.  There are a few roadblocks along the way – mostly involving funding and pesky university staff that begin to take a growing share of the credit for the find as it becomes more apparent that Philippa has made a true discovery – but by and large, while she is on the road to the excavation, she takes very few wrong turns.  To overcomplicate the narrative to something more in line with a treasure hunt film – Indiana Jones or National Treasure franchises are prime examples – would be a disservice, but the script shakes off any opportunity to really delve into any of the popular assumptions of the time about what happened to Richard, and Philippa never finds herself having to totally start over having followed a wrong thread.  Because of this, there is very little drama or excitement in the middle act as it becomes more of a fight for funding than seeking out information, debunking myths, or zeroing in on potential locations where Richard may be.  

Thankfully, though, much like Hawkins’ performance, the design of the film is easily digestible and makes for easy viewing.  Specifically, the sound department, led by Ian Wilson, has a lot of fun working with quirky audio clues that help punctuate the visual and situational humor of the moment.  It is obvious, but not irritating, and helps to keep the affable and approachable tone of the film.  Coupled with Alexandre Desplat’s score, The Lost King is an auditory treat that, again, helps us relax into the narrative on screen.  Zac Nicholson’s camera has a tendency to shoot wide in the exteriors so that we can enjoy the view of the town, but when he cuts to closeups, even in the busiest of conference scenes, we are never left dizzied or disoriented.  Possibly in an effort to keep the budget down, Frears does not employ much overlap of the past and the present as if it were a Tom Stoppard script which does seem like a missed opportunity to add some interest and drama to the middle act that is far too diplomatic and procedural in nature, but the commitment to simplicity is noted and commendable in its own right. 

For what it is, The Lost King is a competently made piece of cinema that serves more to inspire audiences to read up on Richard III and the search for his remains than to fully inform.  It is an enjoyable little film that serves its purpose well and is a nice reprieve from the toils and monotony of the day-to-day as it scratches the itch of a modern-day treasure hunt.  There is a joy and care from the cast that transcends the screen and pulls us in to follow Philippa as she follows her hunches and makes one of the greatest modern discoveries of British Royal history.  Convenience and coincidence play a large role in the film, to its detriment, and while the script also touches up against ideas about the prevalence of sexism in board rooms and the traditionally male-dominated fields, it does not seek to dissect this issue and reroute the film, instead highlighting the men who actively doubt Philippa as inadequate oafs.  They provide the antagonists’ role in the otherwise jovial film, and while it works in context, they too are affected by the overall surface-level examination of this story taken by the writing team.  The Lost King is a film that is begging to be bigger, to be more than it is – deeper in its detail – but while we in the audience may find ourselves frustrated by the tease, at the end of it all, we cannot help but to smile along with Philippa and her incredible discovery.