A United Kingdom

by Guy Hibbert (screenplay) and Susan Williams (book)

BBC Films

I feel like my love of the “royal dude falls in love with commoner girl and complications ensue” plot line is well-enough known.

Now, take that plot, make it real, and have the complications include “family of royal dude is willing to cause an international cascading incident over it, and also the British Empire and the government of South Africa both hate this idea and are willing to pitch the biggest shitfit EVER over it” and you have the story of Seretse and Ruth Khama, dramatized in A United Kingdom.

(As with all biopics, they do take some dramatic license with actual events, but, based on my cursory reads, not that much.)

Seretse is the heir to the tribal chieftainship in the kingdom of Bechuanaland, a protectorate of the British Empire. He goes to London to study law in preparation for taking up his position, as his uncle has been serving as regent since the death of his grandfather.  While there, he meets Ruth Williams at a dance, and they bond over the terribleness of white English dudes trying to play jazz. He tells her that he’s a king after their first date goes REALLY well, and she’s like, “Well…. I guess… we can enjoy the time we have…?” and he’s like, “Can we PLEASE?” When he’s summoned back to take his place as king, he asks her to marry him, basically saying “Look, it’s gonna be a hot mess, but we can figure it out, right?”

Of course, the British government loses its shit because they like the idea of a quiet populace to oppress, and South Africa loses its shit because they were in the process of codifying apartheid and the idea of a neighboring king married to a white woman was just too much. Seretse and Ruth marry anyway, and they go home to Bechuanaland, where they are not greeted with open arms. Ruth needs time to adjust to what is expected of her – and to her credit, she works very hard at learning the language and customs, and placing her faith in her husband’s people and not the white colonialist establishment. She’s not there to “save” them for anything, except from the abuses of her own government. They are faced with exile and massive government machinations before they are able to return home to protect Bechuanaland from further colonialist abuses. Eventually, they help Bechuanaland become the independent nation of Botswana, where Seretse was elected as the first president.

Around these parts, David Oyelowo is known for Selma, where he played Martin Luther King, Jr. Here he gets to play another leader who lived to see the results of his work. Oyelowo can deliver a barnstorming speech with the best of them. I’d watch an hour-long special of him describing how he’s going to tackle his shopping list.  This is a man who was determined to find a way to do his duty and follow his heart, and who felt that with Ruth by his side, he could do anything.

I love Rosamund Pike. She is SO good, and there’s a scene where she looks at Elizabeth II and is clearly pondering, “This is what being Queen means, right?” and she tries the wave for about a second and a half before going “Nope, this is incorrect.” Ruth understands that she’s the one not in her element, and while this is her new home, and she belongs there, she wouldn’t be doing the people any favors by trying to make them more British. It’s her job to understand and acclimate to them, not the other way around. Once she’s demonstrated that, then the other women come around and help her.

This film was directed by Amma Asante, who directed Belle, and she has a sensitive hand when it comes to interracial romances. There’s never a sense that Ruth and Seretse are attracted to each other because of their respective races. They just connected at first sight (“You walked in and my heart went boom,” to quote one Lin-Manuel Miranda). Even though they seem to fall in love quite quickly (really, the main weakness of the movie is that the passage of time isn’t clear, save for when Ruth is pregnant), you never doubt that these are two people who love each other, even when the power of the British Empire is stacked against them.

This is a lovely, enjoyable real-life romance that stands in counterpoint to Loving: while Mildred and Richard Loving didn’t set out to change the world, Ruth and Seretse did set out to change Botswana for the better, and both couples succeeded.

A United Kingdom is in select theaters now and tickets (US) are available at Fandango and Moviefone.