Britain's longest-reigning monarch gets a vivacious new screen image in this handsome biographical drama. Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada) mixes charm with steely determination as the teenage princess, chafing at the restrictions of life in Kensington Palace in the year leading up to her accession to the throne. The script by Julian Fellowes is at its best focusing on the conflicts between Victoria, her mother the Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson) and the overbearing Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong). But when she becomes queen in 1837, it's the young monarch's courtship of Prince Albert (Rupert Friend) and her dependence on wily Prime Minister Lord Melbourne (Paul Bettany) that take centre stage. Sumptuous royal palaces and gorgeous costumes dominate every scene, and Jim Broadbent has a memorable cameo as the irascible King William. But in choosing to concentrate on the romance in Victoria's life - largely conducted through letters - director Jean-Marc Vallée's treatment of the Coronation, the Royal Wedding and a couple of assassination attempts feels rather perfunctory. Unlike the turbulent early years of Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth I, or Judi Dench's raw grief as the widowed Queen Victoria in Mrs Brown, this feels like a case of too much costume and not enough drama.

As the only legitimate heir of England's King William, teenage Victoria gets caught up in the political machinations of her own family. Victoria's mother wants her to sign a regency order, while her Belgian uncle schemes to arrange a marriage between the future monarch and Prince Albert, the man who will become the love of her life.