As seen on BBC’s The One Show and the cover of The Guardian this week, trailblazing period drama Madfabulous arrives in UK cinemas nationwide today.
Following a fitting world premiere at the 40th BFI Flare this March, one of the UK’s biggest celebrations of LGBTQIA+ storytelling, Icon Film Distribution have confirmed more than 250 sites for the wider UK release, opening in cinemas today and screening throughout Pride month this June. Local showtimes can be found at madfabulousfilm.co.uk.
The Home Entertainment release will follow on 20th July, available to pre-order now on Amazon (DVD and Blu-Ray), and iTunes.
Inspired by a true story, BAFTA-nominee Callum Scott Howells (It’s a Sin, The Beautiful Game) leads as the flamboyant Marquis of Anglesey, Henry Paget, who arrives in 1890’s North Wales to claim his aristocratic inheritance. As his theatrical flair and defiant eccentricities send shockwaves through the upper-class elite, Henry – alongside his spirited cousin, Lily, and loyal butler, Gelert – tries to carve out his own identity as the Fifth Marquess, navigating suffocating traditions, scheming relatives, and the long shadow cast by his estranged father. A riotous, uncompromising celebration of otherness, the stellar cast also includes three-time BAFTA nominee Rupert Everett (The Happy Prince, An Ideal Husband), Ruby Stokes (Jay Kelly, Bridgerton), BAFTA winner Siobhán McSweeney (Derry Girls, Alice Through the Looking Glass), Louis Hynes (A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Great), Louise Brealey (Sherlock, Brian and Charles), Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines, The Gentlemen) and Paul Rhys (Wuthering Heights, Saltburn).
Director, Celyn Jones, describes the film as “a timeless story for everyone. Henry’s story arc is like a western… man arrives in town, man changes town and man leaves town… only he’s a nineteenth century aristocratic dandy from Wales. We enter the film traditionally, it’s an old fashioned world made older by the weight of tradition, the young woman in Lily is restless and awaits her life to start and then the lightning bolt, Henry arrives in a dress as if he’s from the future and awakes the world around him.”
Writer, Lisa Baker, adds: “Right at the start, an archive photograph of Henry dressed as a queen, moustache proudly waxed, struck me – here’s a guy not of his time, someone who seems more 21st Century in his attitudes. As Henry wore his ‘otherness’ proudly, he seems to have encouraged acceptance in an era which had strict rules for all and was celebrated for it.”
Placing film, fashion and history side by side, an exhibition room showcasing striking costumes from the film is also currently open at Plas Newydd, Ynys Môn (Anglesey), Lord Paget’s ancestral home. Serving as a filming location for the film, with exterior scenes shot across the lawns, the house and the Menai Strait, National Trust Cymru aims to reintroduce visitors to one of the house’s former residents, ‘The Dancing Marquess’, with a rare and vivid opportunity to explore the history behind one of the most remarkable personalities of the 19th century.
More information on the ‘All Dressed Up’ exhibition can be found here.