The Lost King is a 2022 British film directed by Stephen Frears and written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope. It's a Dramatization of the story of Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who initiated the search to find the remains of Richard III underneath a car park in Leicester. As well as this discovery, it also deals with the uneasy relationship between Philippa and the University of Leicester, whose archaeologists were involved in the dig. It stars Sally Hawkins as Philippa and Coogan as her estranged husband John. Additionally, Harry Lloyd plays an actor playing Richard III as well as the ghost of Richard III, while Mark Addy plays a sympathetic archeologist.
The film includes examples of:
- Adventurer Archaeologist: Averted; Richard Buckley only becomes interested in Philippa's proposal because his department is threatened with closure. He's basically just going through the motions at the dig itself, and shows little interest in what turns out to be the skeleton of Richard III.
- Amicable Exes: Philippa and John. He's still very much involved in the lives of their two sons and is supportive of her.
- Artistic Licence: The film has been accused of this by the University of Leicester, which has contended that its contribution and involvement in the project are under-representative, and it has denied trying to sideline Philippa Langley (who has herself rebutted the university's statement). Richard Taylor, portrayed in the film as an Obstructive Bureaucrat with Jerkass tendencies, has hinted that he may take legal action over the way he is portrayed. It's also highly unlikely that any serious historian (especially one who works as a university lecturer) would take Shakespeare's interpretation of Richard III completely at face value, even before the discovery of his remains.
- Based on a True Story: It's about the search for Richard III, which led to his remains being found under a car park in Leicester in 2012, and buried in that city's cathedral three years later. The timeframe is heavily condensed; in reality, Philippa Langley had been researching Richard for years. John Ashdown-Hill had in fact disproved the theory of Richard's body being thrown into the River Soar back in 2004, and another historian, Annette Carson, had concluded that Richard's body was likely buried under the car park in a book that was published in 2008 (although even before then, Philippa had been in touch with the producers of Time Team with a view to getting them to excavate the car park, but they declined). The notion of Philippa having a premonition about him being buried under the letter "R" (for "reserved") is accurate.
- Creator Cameo: The real Philippa Langley makes an uncredited cameo in the scene when Richard's remains are reburied in the cathedral.
- An In-Universe Cry for the Devil happens when Philippa watches a production of Richard III and can't help sympathizing with the Villain Protagonist.
- Ermine Cape Effect: When Richard's ghost isn't in his armor, he's wearing an ermine-trimmed cape.
- Glory Hound: The university, personified by Richard Taylor, does its best to take most of the credit for the discovery, to the point of sidelining Philippa from the press conference.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Richard III, according to Philippa. She becomes quite vocal about this, pointing out that, contrary to what the academics are saying, he did not usurp the throne, was not guilty of murdering his nephews, etc.
- Ignored Expert: It's debatable how much of an expert she is (although she does become very knowledgeable on the subject of Richard III), but Philippa is treated as one of these by the university people. John Ashdown-Hill, an independent historian rather than a university academic, is also treated thusly.
- Imaginary Friend: Only Philippa can see and converse with Richard's ghost, and he doesn't give any answers to her questions, so he is likely some kind of projection of her need to find Richard's body. Except that Phillippa gets an overwhelming premonition of Richard's body being buried under the "R" in the car park, implying that whatever the apparition is, it might be a Not-So-Imaginary Friend.
- Informed Deformity: Philippa treats the notion of Richard III being a hunchback as no more than Tudor propaganda; tellingly, the ghost of Richard (who only she can see) is not shown as a hunchback. She is, therefore, quite surprised when the actual remains of Richard show that he suffered from scoliosis — meaning that in terms of his physical appearance at least, there was some basis in fact to the Tudor propaganda.
- Jacob Marley Apparel: Played with. Richard's ghost sometimes appears in his shining armor and jupon, although they are undamaged. He also appears in his crown and courtly robes at times. This makes sense because the ghost is a projection of Philippa's idealized vision of Richard. The film is notable for getting Richard's armor and heraldry right.
- Jerkass: Philippa's boss, who promotes people on the grounds of gender (ie. men) and looks (in the case of the only woman who gets a promotion) rather than ability, and is later said to have lied to everyone else about Philippa's absences from the office. Also, Richard Taylor comes across as one of these, to the point where the real Richard Taylor has been vocal in his criticism of how he is portrayed.
- Long-Dead Badass: Although Phillippa is more interested in Richard as a just ruler and social reformer, he is portrayed as a Knight in Shining Armor who was a brave soldier. After they recover his remains, they realize he was also a Handicapped Badass.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Richard is probably just a projection of Phillipa's desire to find Richard's remains and clear his name, or is he?
- The Mountains of Illinois: Or Leicestershire, in this case; the scene where Philippa encounters a fully-armoured Richard III (plus a few knights) is meant to take place at Bosworth Field (a dozen or so miles west of Leicester), where he was killed. The mountains in the background, though, are more suggestive of Scotland, which is where most of the outdoor filming took place.
- Nice Guy: Although he becomes somewhat exasperated by Philippa's behaviour, her estranged husband John is generally supporting, to the point of anonymously donating the money he was planning to spend on a new car to her crowdfunding appeal, and moving back into the family home to help her save money.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Richard Taylor of the University of Leicester is condescending towards Philippa, and later tries to exclude her from the press conference.
- One-Steve Limit: Averted. As well as Richard III, we have two men called Richard who both work for the university. Both are real people. We also have two men (Philippa's ex-husband and the sympathetic historian) called John.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits: The Richard III Society (Edinburgh Branch) are shown as this. Quite why a group of Scots (well, people living in Scotland at any rate, as not all of them have Scottish accents) are so interested in an English king note is not stated, although it's Truth in Television — the Real Life Philippa Langley, an Englishwoman who has lived in Edinburgh for many years, is President of the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Philippa's interest in Richard III is sparked when she goes to see the Shakespeare play and finds herself sympathising with him, seeing his villainous portrayal as being motivated in part by his physical deformity (she suffers from ME and so can relate to this). Harry Lloyd, who plays the actor playing Richard, also plays the ghost of Richard who Philippa occasionally sees (and sometimes talks to). At the end, he turns up again, this time as the actor from the play at the beginning.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Richard Buckley, the lead archaeologist, doesn't think the leg bones in the first trench are important and so goes home, leaving his underlings to continue with the excavation. They turn out to be the leg bones of Richard III.
- Sex with the Ex: Averted, despite John moving back into the family home. He and Philippa kiss, but no more — and he sleeps on the sofa.
- Stock Unsolved Mysteries: The Fate of the Princes in the Tower haunts Philippa. As a Ricardian, she has argued that Richard did not kill them. When she asks Richard's ghost, he is offended by the question and refuses to give an answer. In Real Life, Philippa Langley has — since the discovery of Richard III's remains — worked on trying to prove that he didn't kill them, and has even been responsible for an ITV documentary which provides (admittedly contested) evidence for the claim that both boys survived to launch failed attempts to overthrow Henry VII.
- Talking to Herself: Downplayed — one of Philippa's sons sees her doing what looks like this (she's actually having a conversation with the ghost of Richard III, which only she can see), but no-one makes a big deal of it.
- "X" Marks the Spot: Philippa sees an "R" in the car park and has a premonition Richard is buried beneath. She's right.
