Bow down to your king. Timothée Chalamet is the boy monarch Henry V searching for men he can trust in the first trailer for the Netflix drama “The King,” and his intense performance demands loyalty and respect — despite the period bowl cut he sports.
The historical drama is a different side for Chalamet, whom we’re used to seeing as brooding, messy-haired, intellectual charmers in things like “Lady Bird” and “Call Me by Your Name.”
But here he takes on a role that Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh made famous in film adaptations of William Shakespeare’s play about the 15th-century monarch, and he’s backed up by a great cast that includes Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Lily-Rose Depp, Robert Pattinson and Ben Mendelsohn.
David Michôd, known for “The Rover,” “Animal Kingdom” and most recently Netflix’s “War Machine,” directs “The King.” Here’s the official synopsis:
Hal (Timothée Chalamet), wayward prince and reluctant heir to the English throne, has turned his back on royal life and is living among the people. But when his tyrannical father dies, Hal is crowned King Henry V and is forced to embrace the life he had previously tried to escape. Now the young king must navigate the palace politics, chaos and war his father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life — including his relationship with his closest friend and mentor, the ageing alcoholic knight, John Falstaff (Joel Edgerton).
Michôd co-wrote the screenplay with Edgerton, and Netflix is releasing the drama this fall both in limited release in theaters and on the streaming service.
Watch the regal first trailer for “The King” above.