Charming British Dramedy ‘A Royal Night Out’ Misses the Mark

Alysia Gonzales

The upcoming British dramedy “A Royal Night Out,” set to release in the United States on Dec. 4, has all the charm and sparkle that a British period piece should have. The film combines the shenanigans of two sisters trying to find each other the night of V-E Day with the drama that comes with living in a country that has been in wartime for years, finally with peace in sight.  The film does a fine job of setting the stage with creating tension between these two concepts, but overall fails to follow through, lacking consistency and fluidity. 

From the very first scene where Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret try to finagle a way to make their parents let them go out for the night, they’re immediately identifiable. The two get dressed up, and leave Buckingham Palace arm in arm excited for the night to unfold, and when they ditch the party at the Ritz, the audience a thousand times over can put themselves in their shoes.

The real highlight of the film is Sarah Gadon, whose sincerity and innocence in her role as Princess Elizabeth permeate even the darkest of scenes.  Bel Powley who plays the second princess, Princess Margaret (affectionately known at one point as P2), has charisma to spare. Her role serving as both a hilarious and important plot device. The chemistry between Gadon and Jack Reynor (who plays Jack) is tangible on screen, and the entire movie is spent rooting for them to finally kiss, which manifests in the end in a very classy off-screen handling of the traditional romantic comedy end-of-the-film kiss.

However, within the story line lies the rub.  The film, while attempting to marry harmoniously the genres of comedy and drama only seem to get a slight mixing at best between the two, leaving the film feeling clunky and uneven.  In between scenes of young girls excited to go out, the king dealing with his stutter and more comedic scenes, there is an obvious hinting about loss and desertion and the film comes dangerously close to a rape scene.  But these scenes aren’t interwoven within and throughout the comedic ones, they stand out in stark contrast in a way that feels awkward.

Overall, the film does a remarkable job of engaging the audience but fails to mesh both comedy and drama, leaving the film feeling disjointed and a bit superficial. Those looking for a deep and provocative view on life should look elsewhere but for those who are just looking for a bit of fun and quite a few laughs, this is the perfect popcorn movie for that.

“A Royal Night Out” opens Nationwide on Dec. 4.