Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows

Queen of the Desert

Play trailer 2:22 Poster for Queen of the Desert PG-13 Released Apr 14, 2017 2h 8m Biography History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
18% Tomatometer 80 Reviews 36% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
Gertrude Bell's life as an explorer, cartographer, and archaeologist for the British Empire.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Queen of the Desert

Queen of the Desert

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Queen of the Desert unites some undeniably talented professionals, but it's difficult to discern what drew them together -- or understand how its compelling real-life story became such a muddled mess.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (80) Critics Reviews
Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com As stunningly picturesque as all of this undeniably proves to be, Queen of the Desert is a barren emotional quagmire, Bell's incredible story deserving of so much more than this movie sadly proves to be willing to offer. Rated: 2/4 Apr 14, 2017 Full Review Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times The result is a well-made invitation to nod off. Rated: 2/4 Apr 13, 2017 Full Review J. R. Jones Chicago Reader Bell was an extraordinary figure, tailor-made for a dazzling presence like Kidman, but Werner Herzog, directing his own script, unwisely structures Bell's story around her intimate relationships with men. Apr 13, 2017 Full Review Dennis Harvey 48 Hills [It] demonstrated that Herzog can fail big, as well as on a DIY scale. Nov 10, 2023 Full Review Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review The director fails to find a dramatic framework through which to view his subject. Rated: 1.5/4 Apr 4, 2022 Full Review Matt Brunson Film Frenzy With so many classics to his name, Werner Herzog need not apologize for helming Queen of the Desert -- it's just shocking that his name is attached to something as arid and uninspired as this stillborn drama. Rated: 1.5/4 Sep 22, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (77) audience reviews
Rebecca T I thought this movie was superb. It is a visually beautiful, well acted, moving real-life story—genuinely dumbfounded at the low ratings. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 04/10/25 Full Review Jenny M I watched this movie after viewing the documentaries "Letters from Baghdad" and "The Real Lawrence of Arabia" and was very disappointed. I can never understand the need for Hollywood to create fictional events in the life of historical people. Gertrude Bell had plenty of real life experiences to draw from for dramatic effect. And their portrayal of T E Lawrence was shallow and appalling. Most of their interactions in this film never happened. Very lazy research and writing. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 03/24/24 Full Review Michael A Queen of Desert's miscasting is so incredibly bad it almost makes one cry. Kidman is usually so great though certainly not here. It's like if the actors and director know this movie is going to flunk in a major way. Watch Lawrence of Arabia instead or to compare how this very important topic should have been treated at each level. While Franco was somewhat miscast, Pattison is way not credible as Lawrence at all. Kidman looks more like she should be her father's younger wife than his daughter, why she took on this role leaves one feeling bewildered and sad since she is typically such a great actress and seems to choose her roles wisely. Sad, sad, sad. Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/24 Full Review Damien K Disappointing. The real life story was complex and compelling, and the 'love interests' (four, not two) were disastrous, each in their own way. Yet the characters are portrayed as romantically beautiful (Bell wasn't, nor was Lawrence) and the storyline lacks a central meaning. The whole thing came across as a pastiche of beautiful but largely unconnected scenes looking for a reason. Pretty to look at but rubbish story-telling. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 12/27/23 Full Review Marit Risto F Probably the story could have been better, but I enjoy it anyway. Again and again Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review Audience Member I think it is mesmerising. The scenery, the different way of life through an eye of a woman. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Queen of the Desert

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
Harriet 74% 97% Harriet Watchlist TRAILER for Harriet Suffragette 73% 68% Suffragette Watchlist TRAILER for Suffragette Victoria & Abdul 65% 68% Victoria & Abdul Watchlist TRAILER for Victoria & Abdul The Iron Lady 51% 51% The Iron Lady Watchlist Experimenter 85% 61% Experimenter Watchlist Discover more movies and 온라인카지노추천 shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Gertrude Bell's life as an explorer, cartographer, and archaeologist for the British Empire.
Director
Werner Herzog
Producer
Michael Benaroya, Cassian Elwes, Nick N. Raslan
Screenwriter
Werner Herzog
Distributor
IFC Films
Production Co
Benaroya Pictures, Raslan Company of America
Rating
PG-13 (Some Thematic Elements|Brief Nudity)
Genre
Biography, History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 14, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 6, 2017
Runtime
2h 8m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital
Most Popular at Home Now