Mark Addy Archives – CULTURE MIX

Review: ‘The Choral,’ starring Ralph Fiennes, Roger Allam, Mark Addy, Allun Armstrong, Robert Emms and Simon Russell Beale

December 24, 2025

by Carla Hay

Ralph Fiennes in “The Choral” (Photo by Nicola Dove/Sony Pictures Classics)

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Culture Representation: Taking place in 1916, in Ramsden, England, the dramatic film “The Choral” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: After the Choral Society in Ramsden loses several members (including its choir master) to military service, another choir master reluctantly takes over, and he recruits several new members who otherwise wouldn’t have been considered.

Culture Audience: “The Choral” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of star Ralph Fiennes and dramas about choirs who need to be trained under a new leader.

Jacob Dudman, Taylor Uttley, Oliver Briscombe and Shaun Thomas in “The Choral” (Photo by Nicola Dove/Sony Pictures Classics)

Dull and superficial, “The Choral” is a series of anecdotal scenes instead of a cohesive story about a revamped choir in 1916 England. This drama has underdeveloped characters with cliché and cardboard personalities. By the end of the film, you will hardly learn anything about the main characters except who is pursuing whom in a few romantic relationships among the young people.

Directed by Nicholas Hytner (who is one of the movie’s producers) and written by Alan Bennett, “The Choral” had its world premiere at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival. The movie screened at other festivals in 2025, including the BFI London Film Festival and AFI Fest. The movie takes place in 1916, in the small village of Ramsden, England. “The Choral” was filmed on location in England, at Saltaire Village, West Yorkshire and Versa Leeds Studios.

“The Choral” follows many of typical formulas in yet another movie about a cranky/stern choir director who has a limited time to train a singing group to be good enough for an upcoming competition or big performance. In this movie, the singing group is the Choral Society, a group of men and women who have recently lost several members (including the Choral Society’s choir master) to military service during World War I. Before the new choir master takes over in “The Choral,” the movie rushes through some scenes that show some of the people who are impacted by these changes in the Choral Society.

“The Choral” begins by showing two best friends in their late teens named Ellis (played by Taylor Uttley) and Lofty (played by Oliver Briscombe), who have the unpleasant job of delivering telegrams informing military families that one of their loved ones died in the war. Ellis is very flippant about this serious and depressing job. After they deliver a telegram to a weeping young woman (played by Fiona Morgan) with the news that her brother has died in the war, Ellis comments to Lofty as they walk away that Lofty could’ve used the opportunity to make romantic moves on the woman. “You could’ve gotten in there, Lofty,” Ellis smirks. “Grief. It’s an opportunity.”

Ellis is a one-note character who sees almost every moment of his life as an opportunity to flirt with women, chase women, or make comments on whether or not he thinks a woman’s physical appearance is attractive enough for him. It might be the movie’s attempt to show Ellis as a carefree ladies’ man, but Ellis just comes across as a self-absorbed creep. Lofty is a passive and somewhat generic character whose biggest worry is that he will still be a virgin when he turns 18 years old.

Ellis and Lofty have two other close friends (who are about the same age) in their social circle. Mitch (played by Shaun Thomas) is an earnest go-getter. Clyde (played by Jacob Dudman) is a military soldier who is missing in action in the beginning of the movie. The movie’s trailer and other marketing materials already reveal that Clyde shows up later, when he is discharged from the military for reasons that are shown in the movie.

Meanwhile, four decision makers for the Choral Society have to decide who will replace the people who’ve left the Choral Society because of military service. Bernard Duxbury (played by Roger Allam) is an alderman who sees himself as the leader of the decision makers. The other three decision makers are undertaker Herbert Trickett (played by Allun Armstrong), photographer Joe Fytton (played by Mark Addy) and Reverend Woodhead (played by Ron Cook), who have their opinions but find it difficult to persuade stubborn Bernard to change his mind on certain things.

An early scene in the movie shows Bernard and Herbert asking Ellis and Lofty to audition for the Choral Society. Later, during a meeting, the four decision makers lament the fact that Gilbert Pollard (played by Thomas Howes), the Choral Society’s previous choir master, left for military service because he volunteered and was not conscripted. After some discussion, the name Dr. Henry Guthrie is mentioned as a possible replacement for Gilbert.

Dr. Henry Guthrie (played by Ralph Fiennes), a bachelor with no children, is a talented musician who has recently returned to his native England after living several years in Germany. At the moment, he is working as a pianist at the Queens Hotel, which is not too far away from Ramsden. Henry is somewhat mysterious. Considering the tense relations between Germany and the United Kingdom during World War I, some people in the community are suspicious about Henry’s long residency in Germany and sudden return to England.

Is Henry a spy? A secret political supporter of the German government? “The Choral” hints that it could have this intrigue, but ultimately “The Choral” just makes Henry an inscrutable and often-grumpy character who reluctantly accepts the offer to become the Choral Society’s new choir master. Henry takes the job on the condition that Henry will get to work with his pianist friend Robert Horner (played by Robert Emms), even though Bernard says that Robert’s job with the choir will be an unpaid position.

“The Choral” then shows a very boring series of auditions that result in new members of the Choral Society. Ellis and Lofty are among those who make the cut. So does Bella Holmes (played by Emily Fairn), a young woman who had been dating Clyde before he went off to war. Bella is no longer interested in Clyde but doesn’t want to tell a lot of people that while he is still missing in action. After Clyde is found and is discharged from the military, he returns to Ramsden and joins the Choral Society.

Clyde finds out that Ellis has been courting Bella, who is mutually attracted to Ellis. “The Choral” wastes an opportunity to show Clyde as a well-rounded person who is dealing with the aftermath of war, including long-term physical and mental effects. Instead, “The Choral” makes him somewhat of a token disabled veteran (he lost his right arm during the war) who accepts Bella wanting to move on from Clyde so she can date Ellis, as long as Bella can still give Clyde the occasional hand job. That is literally the gist of Clyde’s story arc in “The Choral.”

Another new addition to the Choral Society is Mary Lockwood (played by Amara Okereke), a prim and proper Salvation Army worker. From the first few moments that Mary is on screen, it’s obvious she will be the star singer of the choir. During her audition, Mary gets wary reactions from longtime choir members Miss Muschamp (played by Carolyn Pickles) and Mrs. Pemberton (played by Angela Curran), whose only purpose in the movie is to play stereotypical uptight elderly women who feel threatened by someone who’s younger and more talented.

The Choral Society is preparing to perform songs from the oratorio “The Dream of Gerontius,” written by Sir Edward Elgar (played by Simon Russell Beale), who is very picky about who gets to perform this oratorio and how it’s performed, because it’s widely considered to be his masterpiece. The Choral Society is under pressure to do a performance that would make Sir Edward proud. Yawn.

In between monotonous rehearsal scenes, where choir master Henry does his expected scolding and scowling, there’s some very uninteresting drama that is only shown on a surface level. Mitch wants to date virginal Mary, who is afraid of dating anyone and wants to focus on her work. Robert is a closeted gay man at who might or might not be secretly in love with Henry.

“The Dream of Gerontius” is about a dead elderly man’s soul on a journey of death. In a community devastated by war deaths, this oratorio takes on particular significance. But you wouldn’t know it from the way this movie treats grief on a surface level.

Bernard had a son who died in the war. Bernard’s unnamed wife (played by Eunice Roberts) is briefly seen at their home as someone who is dressed entirely in black and who spends time sitting around and staring into space. Bernard tells her in an exasperated voice: “This house can’t become a mausoleum.” She replies, “You’re free to live entirely as you please, Bernard.” That’s the extent of which the movie addresses any grief in Bernard’s family.

A character named Mrs. Bishop (played by played by Lindsey Marshal) is a widow whose husband died in the war. Chronic flirt Ellis constantly eggs on Lofty to get some sexual action from Mrs. Bishop. In Ellis’ mind, Mrs. Bishop must be a horny widow who would welcome the chance to have a fling with a good-looking young man who wants to lose his virginity. The movie panders to this notion and makes Mrs. Bishop merely a prop who’s waiting around for male attention that’s shallow and fleeting.

“The Choral” is utterly phony when it comes to how it depicts race relations. Mary is black in a community where less than 1% of the population is black, but not once is her race mentioned in this nearly all-white community. Not once does anyone—not even Mary’s unnamed mother (played by Cecilia Noble), who has a scene talking to Mitch about his romantic interest in Mary—ask Mitch if he’s prepared for any backlash to having an interracial relationship.

Although it would be nice to think that this small village in 1916 England is so progressive that it’s a color-blind society where no one talks about different races, this type of community is an “only in a fictional movie” community for the time and place that it’s supposed to depict. Social class differences are barely acknowledged in “The Choral,” during a time when working-class men are disproportionately conscripted to war combat because they don’t have the resources to get out of this type of military service, compared to rich men. And the movie has a very trite depiction of what it must have been like for a gay man like Robert to live in this time and place.

As for the music and singing in “The Choral,” they are not very impressive and can be downright grating. “The Angel’s Farewell” is the big song performed in the movie’s climax. But you’d be hard-pressed to find a majority of people who see “The Choral” who will remember key components to this song. Fiennes and many of “The Choral” cast members are talented, but there’s only so much they can do when they are given two-dimensional characters to play. Instead of “The Choral,” this movie should be titled “The Bore All.”

Sony Pictures Classics will release “The Choral” in select U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2025. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on November 7, 2025.

Review: ‘The Lost King’ (2022), starring Sally Hawkins, Steve Coogan, Harry Lloyd and Mark Addy

August 5, 2023

by Carla Hay

Sally Hawkins in “The Lost King” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

“The Lost King” (2022)

Directed by Stephen Frears

Culture Representation: Taking place in 2012, in Scotland and in England, the dramatic film “The Lost King” (based on a true story) features a nearly all-white cast of characters (with a few black people and Asians) representing the working-class and middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: An enthusiastic member of the Richard III Society is convinced that Great Britain’s King Richard III was wrongfully accused of crimes and that his remains are buried underneath a parking lot in Leicester, England, but she faces an uphill battle to fund the excavation.

Culture Audience: “The Lost King” will appeal mostly to people who are fans of stars Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan and have an interest in watching predictable but crowd-pleasing history-based dramas.

Harry Lloyd in “The Lost King” (Photo courtesy of IFC Films)

“The Lost King” is the type of movie about an underestimated and persistent person where you know exactly how it’s going to end. This traditionally made drama has a very watchable journey though, mostly because of Sally Hawkins’ engaging lead performance. “The Lost King” is based on a true story, but it has a few fantastical elements, such as main character Philippa Langley talking to her imagined ghost of Great Britain’s King Richard III, who died in 1485, at the age of 32.

Directed by Stephen Frears, “The Lost King” had its world premiere at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope co-wrote the adapted screenplay for “The Lost King,” based on the 2013 non-fiction book “The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III,” by Philippa Langley and Michael K. Jones. “The Lost King” hits a lot of familiar beats that movies have about underdogs taking on a massive challenge with odds stacked against them. Don’t expect any major surprises in this movie, especially since the outcome of this story is fairly well-known to history buffs.

At the beginning of “The Lost King” (which takes place in 2012), 45-year-old Philippa Langley (played by Sally Hawkins), who lives in Scotland, is stuck in a dead-end sales job in an office. Six employees have been chosen to be on the company’s Super Team of sales people. Philippa is not one of those six people, much to her frustration and disappointment. Philippa has a tense conversation with her bigoted boss Tony (played by Lewis Macleod) in his office about being passed over for this promotion.

Tony says to her, “You are at the right level for you. We both know you’ve had issues.” Philippa replies, “I suffer from chronic fatigue. It’s a real illness. And yet, have I ever missed a deadline?” Tony says, “I thought it was time to give the younger ones a chance to shine.” An insulted Philippa then retorts: “If you want people to be good at being under 40, I will admit, I’m struggling there, but so are you.” And then, she walks out the door.

Philippa and her ex-husband John Langley (played by Coogan) have joint custody of and co-parent their sons Max (played by Adam Robb) and Raife (played by Benjamin Scanlan). Max is about 12 or 13 years old, while Raife is about 10 or 11 years old. When Philippa gripes to John about her job problems, she gives the impression that she’s ready to quit her job. John warns her: “Don’t do anything impetuous. That’s all I ask. We have two households to run. We need your wages too.”

Philippa will soon find something else that will preoccupy her time and her energy. One evening, she asks John to accompany her to a production of William Shakespeare’s play “Richard III,” although this production has renamed it “The Life and Death of Richard III.” Philippa says she doesn’t want to go to the play without another adult with her. John politely declines because he says he has a date with another woman.

At the play, Philippa becomes transfixed and somewhat annoyed with the story because Richard III (played by Harry Lloyd) is presented as a villain who betrayed his country. Philippa is convinced that this play has a historically inaccurate portrayal of King Richard III, who was exiled and died during a battle in 1485. He was 32 years old. Richard III was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and the last British king to die in battle.

King Richard III’s death marked the end of the Middle Ages in England. Henry Tudor, who led the forces that defeated King Richard III, then ascended to the throne to become King Henry VII. For centuries, historians said that King Richard III’s remains were discarded into the River Soar.

After seeing Shakespeare’s version of King Richard’s III’s life, Philippa becomes obsessed with finding out everything she can about King Richard III. She goes to bookstores and libraries for her research. Soon after she begins this research, she starts to have delusional fantasies that King Richard III is following her and talking to her. In her fantasies (which she keeps a secret), King Richard III appears to her looking exactly like he did in the Shakespeare play that she saw.

Philippa eventually joins the Edinburgh branch of the Richard III Society, a group of King Richard III fans who want history to be written to what they believe is the truth: King Richard III was not a traitor but a noble king who was loyal to his country. The Richard III Society also believes that it’s very likely that King Richard III’s remains weren’t thrown into the River Soar but are actually buried on land somewhere in England.

Philippa’s quest to find this unmarked grave becomes the main focus of the rest of the movie. She eventually quits her job, but she doesn’t tell John about it straight away. What she does tell John are her staunch beliefs about King Richard III: “He was a good man. I’m convinced of it.” There’s a change in Philippa when she goes on this quest: She feels a new purpose in her life, which gives her a rush of uplifting motivation and energy that was missing when she was stuck in a job that didn’t appreciate her.

As you can imagine, Philippa experiences major obstacles during her quest. Most historians think she’s mentally ill or very ignorant. At a King Richard III lecture given by historian RR Lawrence (played by Julian Firth), who believes in the historically taught stories about Richard III, Philippa stands up in the audience and challenges RR on his views. She asserts that Richard, during his reign, created a “fairer and more just society.” RR openly mocks her and dismisses her statements.

After the lecture, Philippa meets someone at the venue who is sympathetic to her cause: independent historian/author John Ashdown-Hill (played by James Fleet), who doesn’t have a high opinion of RR, whom he calls a “pompous old queen.” Tom tells Philippa that he’s about to publish the results of his mitochondrial DNA research of King Richard III’s descendants. Tom encourages Philippa to find out where King Richard was buried.

This search leads Philippa to a parking lot in Leicester, England, where she is convinced it’s the burial site of King Richard III. From the years 1250 to 1538, it was the location of Grey Friars Priory, where Philippa firmly believes that King Richard III was buried. (This isn’t spoiler information, since it’s in the movie’s trailer.) In order to get this parking lot excavated, she has to convince local government officials and raise the money for the excavation.

Philippa finds an ally in Richard Buckley (played by Mark Addy), a Leicester University professor. Richard’s deputy is Mathew Morris (played by Alasdair Hankinson), who also takes an interest in this project. As already shown in “The Lost King” trailer, the excavation takes place. The movie shows that Philippa got excavation money, partially through crowdfunding (she launches a website called Looking for Richard to get donations) and partially from Leicester Promotions leader Martin Peters (played by Ian Dunn), who sees it as an opportunity to get publicity for himself and Leicester Promotions.

Of course, it’s not all smooth sailing. Philippa comes dangerously close to losing funding at least once. She also experiences constant sexism from people who think she’s a bizarre woman who’s making a fool out of herself with this mission. She gets a lot of scrutiny in the media—some of it positive, some of it negative. One of her biggest skeptics is Leicester University director of corporate affairs Richard Taylor (played by Lee Ingleby), a sneering bureaucrat who doesn’t even try to hide his condescension to Philippa.

Through it all, Hawkins portrays Philippa with a plucky and determined personality. Does Philippa get discouraged? Does she experience self-doubt? Of course she does. However, since there are no real surprises in this story, Philippa’s low points in her mission also have high points.

Philippa’s obsession takes a toll on her personal life, since John begins to wonder about her mental stability and her ability to be an attentive mother to their sons. John also finds out that Philippa quit her job, so he’s worried about Philippa’s finances. On top of being openly ridiculed by certain people in society, Philippa also has to deal with the perception, even from her own children, that this mission has turned her into someone who’s not a very good mother.

After the first few scenes of Philippa talking to her imaginary King Richard III, viewers of “The Lost King” will decide if they will probably want to continue watching the movie or not. These “talking to an imaginary ghost” scenes tend to get repetitive and don’t add much value to movie, except to make Philippa look even more eccentric than she probably is in real life. Some viewers might find these “imaginary ghost” scenes a turnoff, while others will find these scenes tolerable at worst and charming at best.

Hawkins’ performance is the main thing that holds “The Lost King” together, since the rest of the cast members give serviceable performances. Hawkins tends to play socially awkward misfits in her movies, so she’s not really doing anything that’s a breakthrough, in terms of her role in “The Lost King.” However, “The Lost King” is not trying to be anything that it isn’t: It’s mostly pleasant escapism that has positive messages of perseverance in pursuing a dream, in the midst of naysayers and hostility.

IFC Films released “The Lost King” in select U.S. cinemas on March 24, 2023. The movie was released in the United Kingdom on October 7, 2022.