Genre: Historical romance/biography
Opens: December 26, 2016
Duration: 111 minutes

Set in the 1940s through to the ’60s, A United Kingdom is based on the real-life, racially mixed marriage between British woman Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) and Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), a London law student destined to become the leader of British protectorate Bechuanaland (now Botswana).

The pressures brought to bear on the marriage are massive. What starts out as a kind of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? accumulates layers of intrigue as the world of late-colonial politics weighs in and the relationship hits the headlines.

We are in the late days of Empire when Britain’s paternalistic habits are still strong and real-politik demands it keeps the Apartheid regime of South Africa onside (that racist regime decidedly did not want a cross-racial couple at the head of a neighbouring territory). To add further complexity are the tribal politics of Bechuanaland, with Khama’s uncle (Terry Pheto), who’s been overseeing the nation in a caretaker role, fiercely opposed to the marriage.

Director Amma Assante and writer Guy Hibbert do an admirable job of keeping track of the political complexities while never losing sight of the personal. In style, it’s an old-fashioned...