The King was one of the most anticipated releases on Netflix back in 2019. It’s the movie that had Lily-Rose Depp and Timothée Chalamet dating after a brief scene together at the end, but it also had many eager fans waiting to see how Chalamet would be in it after appearing in Call Me By Your Name, Lady Bird, and Beautiful Boy. Joel Edgerton was cast as his companion, while Robert Pattinson would be the French antagonist. The King adapts several of Shakespeare’s plays on English history and kings during the Hundred Years’ War. King Henry V (Timothée Chalamet), lovingly known as Hal, inherits the English throne from his father despite not being cut out for the role. As the conflict with France continues to escalate, he must face his fears and become a worthy ruler who cannot be too personal with his decisions.
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But, if we’re going to be honest, the real gem of The King is Robert Pattinson’s Louis. While his character, known in real life as Louis, Duke of Guyenne, isn’t exactly historically accurate, Pattinson’s interpretation of the text lends itself to an incredible performance. Some argue that his performance in The King is laughably bad, but that’s the point. In a movie based on a series of history plays there is barely any room to breathe outside of the dramatic and tense moments. Without Pattinson, this movie would have been more dry and dull due to the sheer amount of history. Here are some reasons why he was an icon during the movie.
His French Accent is Immaculate
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One of the biggest ironies about The King lies in its actors. Pattinson is an English actor portraying a French character, while Timothée Chalamet is French and portrays an Englishman. Robert Pattinson is known for his dialect work; he’s shown he’s capable of sounding completely different based on a film’s setting, from his Appalachian accent in The Devil All the Time to a thick Queens accent in Good Time. The world seems divided on whether Robert Pattinson’s French accent in The King is good or not.
King Henry V, who is perfectly capable of speaking French, attempts to converse with the Dauphin in his native language, but the Dauphin refuses to acknowledge this. Instead, he continues to ramble brokenly in English. He says “let’s speak in English” because it’s “a simple and ugly language.” This reveals a lot because Pattinson probably didn’t want to learn any French for the role, but it also adds more nuance to the Dauphin. He’s having a good time just messing with Henry and is very aware that he probably looks stupid doing this. But that’s his character: he’s supposed to represent the doomed fool who will taunt Henry into going to war.
He’s Not as Menacing as He First Seems
The Dauphin is first brought into the plot of The King indirectly. He isn’t on-screen when first introduced, but at Henry V’s coronation, viewers come to know of his existence as he sends a lovely gift to insult Henry. The Dauphin’s presence remains a constant threat at the back of the viewer’s mind, someone who is seemingly capable of having the power to annihilate the English army with the snap of his fingers. As Henry V heads into France for war, this is what’s on the back of his mind too. But then the Dauphin decides to show up and blows all expectations out of the water.
His bizarre personality aside, the way the Dauphin appears immediately sets the power dynamics. Henry stands over him and slowly begins to take up more of the screen, giving a visual cue that he’s the bigger man here. The Dauphin spews threats that sound ridiculous as if he’s trying to make himself sound more intimidating than he is. And when the time comes for him to prove himself to the world that he’s the big army man he is, he fails and pathetically trips in the mud. His look is complete with a terrible wig that looks like it hasn’t been washed in a while—that’s the look of a noble French sociopath right there.
He Commands Presence Even Though He Appears Halfway Through the Movie
Robert Pattinson doesn’t actually show up in the movie until it’s halfway through its run time. Viewers know of his existence because he sends the coronation gift to Henry V, but he doesn’t make his grand appearance until Henry is in France and ready for war. The Dauphin has very few scenes in the movie. But because Pattinson turned him into a flamboyant and arrogant character, he immediately sticks out and becomes more memorable than the rest of the cast.
The initial target audience for The King would expect a serious movie with all characters adhering to that darker atmosphere. This creates a cast of characters that tends to blend, so Pattinson’s weirdness is brilliant, a light in this world of misery and war. He also affirms a critical question to the movie’s themes: what is the point of war? If it starts over a guy making mocking genital jokes, then what is its true purpose?
He’s the Only Comedic Relief
When one often thinks of war films and period dramas, they tend to be in the vein of movies like Gladiator or the original 1989 Henry V directed by Kenneth Branagh, the director of Thor and Belfast. These movies are typically serious and full of dramatic action and crisis to keep audiences at the edge of their seat and biting their nails for the protagonist. The King starts this way. While Shakespeare’s plays are supposed to be funny, The King seems to forget that.
The King is dark and dreary, a movie that seems to move slowly. But then the Dauphin appears to threaten Henry in his tent, providing the perfect tone shift that prevents viewers from completely falling asleep. They now know the face behind the threats, and he can’t take it seriously. As he recites his threats to Henry and his men, no one reacts, making the situation comically worse. Pattinson’s character is on his wavelength that defies the expectations set by the movie and genre, which is why every character just blankly stares at him. The lack of reactions makes it funny, but it also creates a foil for Henry V. The Dauphin represents his nemesis, but if he’s a joke, that puts Henry up on a pedestal.
Pattinson is an Outstanding Actor
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Pattinson is known to be a pretty weird guy. It’s an inside joke for anyone who knows about the character and mythology he’s created about himself. There’s a good reason they cast him in this role; it’s known that he could take a character and turn them into something bizarre and fascinating to watch. Whether it’s making jokes about genital sizes and cackling like a madman, he didn’t break character once. Even in his final moments he kept up this ridiculous facade and had a good time—no one else in this film laughed except for the Dauphin. The King could’ve been a movie dubbed as Oscar-bait or mainstream, but then Robert Pattinson showed up with his best Shakespeare imitation and completely stole the show. And if that isn’t good acting, what else is?
