Description

Husband and wife filmmakers Jörg Tittel and Alex Helfrecht make their feature debut with this boys’ own adventure based on the award-winning second novel from György Dragomán. The story of a 12-year-old growing up in an isolated totalitarian homeland (based on Ceaușescu’s Romania) looks the part and brings together an impressive cast but never quite takes hold emotionally, or manages to establish a satisfying tone.

Coming off like an amalgamation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Hunger Games films and The Goonies, The White King will have some appeal to young adults craving their dystopian fix and it compares favourably to effects-swamped alternatives. It follows Djata (Lorenzo Allchurch) whose rebellious father Peter (Ross Partridge) is whisked away at the outset. His destination, unbeknownst to his son, is a prison camp. Djata’s mother Hannah (Agyness Deyn) weeps, frets and wracks her brains for a solution, while Djata spends his birthday with his authoritarian grandparents (Jonathan Pryce and Fiona Shaw), fends off bullies and goes hunting for treasure.

https://film.list.co.uk/article/81612-the-white-king/

https://film.list.co.uk/article/81612-the-white-king/

THE WHITE KING

THE WHITE KING

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