The Iron Lady

Meryl Streep, wearing what looks to be Jennifer Saunders’ prosthetics from that Absolutely Fabulous episode set in the future, is Baroness Thatcher. It’s two decades since the ‘glory days’ of number 10 and the former PM is ready for the knacker’s yard.

Her mind, addled by dementia and pickled in Johnnie Walker, is playing tricks on her. Not only has late hubby Denis (Broadbent) become her ghostly Banquo, she’s also flashing back to her tyrannical premiership, which she reimagines as a rags-to-riches fairytale with her as the plucky greengrocer’s daughter who took on the establishment. Streep, aided by a camp array of teeth and hair, captures Thatcher’s strangeness and her psychotic belief in her own political omniscience – generously, she also imbues Maggie with some humanity.

This great turn aside, Phyllida Lloyd’s direction and Abi Morgan’s script are about as deep as George Osborne’s treasury coffers, with Thatcher’s decimated Britain of strikes, riots, unemployment, terrorism and war reduced to glib I Love the 80s-style montage. [Jamie Dunn]

The Iron Lady official trailer