King Charles III

The movie (and the play it's based on) assumes a lot in attributing what the member's of the royal family would do in this situation. It actually had me rooting for the monarchy instead of the typical, superficial politicians. The dialogue is in modern blank verse which gave it an eerie Shakespearean cast at times--which worked well to its advantage. I'm assuming the legalities of a royal veto as depicted are genuine. Superb performances, especially by the late Pigott-Smith.

Interesting piece of speculative fiction is difficult to take seriously from a psychological perspective (and like most modern analysis of the Windsors seems to fatally misunderstand the implications of abdication in the context of a hereditary monarchy), but as a bit of muck-raking Shakespearean provocation it's fun to watch, with Pigott-Smith's HOC-like direct to camera moments a definite highlight, along with the deliciously nasty scheming from the Cambridge camp.

Well-acted, mostly, but ironically leans explicitly on works - Shakespeare, (the original) House of Cards - that make it pale a bit in comparison. The central conflict - the role of a monarch in a democracy threatening to descend into populism - is interesting, but it seems to forget it halfway through and focus on scandal instead.