In the span of half a decade, Helen Mirren starred in two movies related to the Holocaust, in which she played the older version of a character portrayed by a different actress in flashback sequences. The first of these two movies was The Debt, in which Mirren played a Mossad agent on the hunt for a Nazi fugitive. The younger version of the character was played by Jessica Chastain. Directed by John Madden, The Debt was a modest hit, grossing $45 million worldwide against a reported budget of $20 million. It earned a “Certified Fresh” 77% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The second film was released five years later, in 2015. In it, Mirren played a woman who escaped the Holocaust and moved to the United States. In her later years, she fought a legal battle with the government of Austria to reclaim priceless family heirlooms stolen by the Nazis.
The movie in question is Woman in Gold; it was released in 2015 and is set to debut on a new streaming platform this March. The movie featured Mirren as the older Maria Altmann, who discovers that her aunt was the subject of arguably the most famous painting made by Gustav Klimt. She hires a young lawyer, played by pre-Deadpool Ryan Reynolds, and takes the Austrian government to court. The movie was directed by Simon Curtis, best known for his stately British dramas: My Week with Marilyn, Downton Abbey: A New Era, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, and Goodbye Christopher Robin.
Here’s Where You Can Watch ‘Woman in Gold’
Woman in Gold was a box office hit, grossing over $60 million worldwide against an $11 million budget. Besides Mirren and Reynolds, the film also featured Tatiana Maslany as the younger version of Altmann. Maslany had just broken out in the lead role of the hit sci-fi series Orphan Black. They were joined in the cast by Daniel Brühl, Max Irons, Jonathan Pryce, Katie Holmes, and Charles Dance. Woman in Gold received mixed reviews, and is currently sitting at a 58% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The website’s consensus reads, “Woman in Gold benefits from its talented leads, but strong work from Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds isn’t enough to overpower a disappointingly dull treatment of a fascinating true story.” Last year, Mirren was seen in the blockbuster Paramount+ shows 1923 and MobLand.
You can watch her in Woman in Gold on Peacock from March 1. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
- Release Date
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April 10, 2015
- Runtime
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109 minutes