Victoria and Abdul is a follow-up to the 1997 drama Mrs. Brown, which was an unexpected hit. Mrs. Brown was Judi Dench’s first starring film role, and audiences worldwide marveled at her restrained, precise, sometimes heartbreaking portrayal of Queen Victoria. Dench so often gets typecast as royalty of one kind or another thanks to her mesmerizing ability to take advantage of close-ups: a stony, regal facade helps emphasize every cheek twitch and blink.
In Mrs. Brown, Victoria is mourning the loss of her husband, Albert, and becomes suspiciously close with one of her personal servants, John Brown—a handsome, assertive, eye-opening Scotsman that her staff despises. Queen Victoria’s relationship with John Brown was real, and less than five years after Brown died, Victoria made a new guy friend.