Netflix’s The King turns Shakespeare’s Henry IV and Henry V into a grim, sometimes baffling origin story for a young king who doesn’t want the crown. Directed by David Michôd, who co-wrote the script with Joel Edgerton, the film stars Timothée Chalamet as Hal, a prince who spends his youth drinking and fighting in the streets before reluctantly accepting the throne as Henry V. Joel Edgerton plays Falstaff, the older rogue who raises him. The result is a brooding, violent drama that respects the source material’s themes while often losing sight of its shape.
Trailer, via Disney UK.
Hal’s Path to the Throne
The film opens with Hal living among commoners in Eastcheap, drinking and jesting with Falstaff. His father, King Henry IV, played by Ben Mendelsohn, grows tired of Hal’s debauchery and announces that Hal’s younger brother Prince Thomas, played by Dean-Charles Chapman, will inherit the throne instead. Hal’s father sends Thomas to subdue a rebellion led by Hotspur, played by Tom Glynn-Carney, but Hal arrives at the battlefield, challenges Hotspur to single combat, and wins, ending the fight without further bloodshed.
While Thomas is away campaigning in Wales, he dies. Shortly after King Henry IV passes, Hal is anointed as King Henry V. He attempts to make peace with his father’s many enemies, a move viewed as weakness by those around him. At his coronation feast, envoys from the Dauphin of France, played by Robert Pattinson, give Hal a tennis ball as an insult. Hal chooses to frame this gift as a positive reflection of his boyhood.
The Tennis Ball and the Betrayal
Thomasin McKenzie plays Philippa, the sister of King Henry V who has become Queen of Denmark, warning her brother that the nobles in his own royal court all have their own private interests at heart and will never fully reveal what they truly intend. A captured assassin tells King Henry V he was sent to take the king’s life by King Charles VI of France. The French agents then approach the English nobles Cambridge and Grey, played by Steven Elder and Edward Ashley, and the two traitors plot against Hal.
The traitors fail to win over the Chief Justice, Gascoigne. Gascoigne tells Hal that a display of force is needed to unite England, so Hal announces war on France and orders Cambridge and Grey put to death. He then turns to Falstaff and makes him his chief military strategist, declaring that Falstaff is the only man he truly trusts. The English army departs for France.
Where the Film Falls Short
Edgerton and Michôd have crafted a film in which a king must weigh mercy against power, yet the narrative frequently becomes buried beneath the picture’s own grand ambitions. The tennis ball sequence, intended as a pivotal moment, feels hurried and played down. The scheme concerning Cambridge and Grey ends far too swiftly, with their deaths functioning more as a convenient plot device than as anything carrying genuine weight. The middle portion of the film drags, bogged down by political maneuvering that never quite comes together.
Hal’s magnetic pull comes from Chalamet, who captures the prince’s youthful recklessness and his reluctant gravitas once he becomes king. Edgerton’s spirit, while Falstaff carries a warmer presence, even if his role as chief military strategist feels less earned than announced. Pattinson delivers an excellent Dauphin, playing his mockery with genuine menace. Mendelsohn brings a weary, commanding presence to King Henry IV, yet the film’s historical liberties, criticized by scholars for deviating from Shakespeare’s plays, undercut some of the weight of his performance.
A Heavy Crown, Lightly Worn
| Element | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Chalamet’s Hal | Magnetic, convincing | Middle section pacing |
| Edgerton’s Falstaff | Warmth, chemistry | Underdeveloped as strategist |
| Pattinson’s Dauphin | Menacing, sharp | Over-the-top moments |
| Historical accuracy | Criticized by scholars | Deviates from Shakespeare |
The movie works most effectively when it concentrates on the bond between Hal and Falstaff, and falters whenever it sacrifices personal drama in favor of grand spectacle. Michôd’s direction is assured, but the script struggles to balance its sprawling scope with the intimacy of its central characters. The final act, leading into the English army’s journey to France, remains a pledge that the film ultimately fails to fulfill.
A worthy entry in the Netflix original slate, The King is a bold, flawed adaptation of Shakespeare’s history plays, anchored by strong performances and a clear thematic ambition. It falls short of greatness mostly because its own ambitions get in the way. It leaves viewers wanting a tighter, more focused version of the story it set out to tell.
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