To date Timothée Chalamet's best on-screen performance, in my opinion, comes in the Netflix Originals movie The King, which is available to stream right now (opens in new tab).
The King is a cinematic retelling of William Shakespeare's Henriad (opens in new tab), and follows at its core the coming of age story and then ascension to King of England of Prince Harry (Hal), who then becomes King Henry V, and his subsequent military conflict against France.
For me, this was the first major role I saw Chalamet portray and he does a phenomenally good job of showing the change in mentality and character of Hal as he deals with the burden of being king. Anyone who has seen the Henry plays on stage will know that this transition is core to the narrative and very much the central thing Shakespeare is exploring in his works.
Chalamet is also backed up in this historical Netflix movie with good performances from the other main cast, including (new Batman) Robert Pattinson as The Dauphin of France, Joel Edgerton as Falstaff (who is far more kick-ass than in the plays!) and Mission Impossible star Sean Harris as William Gascoigne.
Visually The King is also very well shot and, as you would want from an epic war movie, has some really intense and well-shot battles.
The King is not historically accurate or particularly accurate to the Shakespeare plays that it is based on, either, but for me that is part of why it works – it blends fact, fiction and sources together to create a movie that is very entertaining and watchable. And it really does give Chalamet a great vehicle to flex his acting chops, which in other roles to date he has not.
As such, if you're a Netflix subscriber and looking for a good movie to stream in March 2022, I thoroughly recommend giving The King a watch.
