All The Movies Coming To Netflix This Week (Jan. 19-25)

Helen Mirren stars in "The Queen," a 2006 movie that now looks like a precursor to "The Crown."
Helen Mirren in "The Queen."
Pathé Distribution
Helen Mirren in "The Queen."

Before there was “The Crown,” there was “The Queen.”

Peter Morgan, who would go on to create Netflix’s “The Crown,” wrote the screenplay for “The Queen,” a 2006 movie starring Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II. Morgan’s Academy Award-nominated script examined the inner workings of Buckingham Palace in a storytelling style that Morgan would develop further with his hit Netflix series.

“The Queen,” directed by Stephen Frears, joins Netflix on Jan. 23. The timing seems particularly opportune given the ubiquity of the royal family in the news this month. “The Queen” tells of the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death in 1997. Here in 2020, of course, Princess Diana’s younger son, Harry, recently decided to leave the royal family with his wife, Meghan. Future seasons of “The Crown” probably won’t address this, so watch “The Queen” for a glimpse of how the royal family got to this point.

You can read more about “The Queen” and watch the trailer below.

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Notable Movie: “The Queen,” Jan. 23

Helen Mirren in "The Queen."
Pathé Distribution
Helen Mirren in "The Queen."

Details: This dramatization of real-life events focuses on the aftermath of Princess Diana’s death. As England mourns, the monarchy and the prime minister debate on what Queen Elizabeth II should say to the kingdom. The queen believes the royal family should not reveal their thoughts to their subjects, but Prime Minister Tony Blair argues that silence will not suffice. The tight focus on the monarchy and the queen’s initial lackluster response leads to existential questions about whether queens and kings should still exist in the contemporary world.

The movie earned six Academy Award nominations, including a win for Best Actress for Helen Mirren in the title role. The main cast includes Mirren, James Cromwell and Michael Sheen. “The Queen” runs 1 hour, 43 minutes.

Watch On: Philip Seymour Hoffman presented the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007. Here’s Mirren winning the award and her subsequent acceptance speech.

Trailer:

The Full List Of Movies Joining Netflix

Jan. 22

  • “Pandemic: How to Prevent an Outbreak” (Netflix Documentary)

Jan. 23

  • “The Queen”

Jan. 24

  • “A Sun” (Netflix Film)

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