The Elephant Queen

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1:31

The Elephant Queen

PG

Released Oct 18, 2019

1h 36m

Documentary

Adventure

Comedy

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

91%

Tomatometer

22 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

50+ Ratings

A journey of family, courage, and coming home; joining Athena, the majestic matriarch, as she leads her elephant herd across an unforgiving African landscape filled with vibrant wildlife.

Critics Consensus

Informative, compassionate, and beautifully filmed, The Elephant Queen should satisfy nature documentary lovers of all ages.

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Alissa Wilkinson

Vox

The result is a nice story about elephants but not much more, making The Elephant Queen feel a bit like a squandered opportunity.

Rated: 2.5/5

Nov 1, 2019

Full Review

Allison Keene

Paste Magazine

The Elephant Queen is messy, but it's still a worthwhile nature watch that educates viewers on how important elephants are to the biomes across which they traverse and why.

Rated: 8/10

Oct 29, 2019

Full Review

David Ehrlich

IndieWire

A cute story about the circle of life.

Rated: B

Oct 18, 2019

Full Review

Fausto Ponce

Proceso

The documentary The Elephant Queen... is an emotional story about survival that shows us the wonderful mechanisms that operate in nature. [Full Review in Spanish]

Jun 17, 2020

Full Review

Louis Proyect

Counterpunch.org

Despite some Disney-style anthropomorphizing, this is a transcendent story of how African elephants cope with a drought. The subtitle might have been "Ecology of a Waterhole",

Nov 5, 2019

Full Review

Petrana Radulovic

Polygon

The best moments of The Elephant Queen come from when the elephants' actions on their own stir the heartstrings, complex emotions beaming off screen without anyone uttering a single word.

Nov 1, 2019

Full Review

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Eugene P

Stunning photography and beautiful story. Nature at its finest. (Keep a tissue handy)

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/06/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The greatest 01 hour: and 36 minutes of real elephant footage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This was a story of roller coaster of emotions! visually absolutely gorgeous! Would always enjoy seeing

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The cinematography was good but I thought the film was spoiled by the excessive anthropomorphism, which had the effect of turning it into a children's movie. Surely Attenborough has shown conclusively that you do not need to talk to children to be compelling even to children. The contrivance of the last duckling being "Stephen," and then spinning a story about Stephen in every clip of a lone duck(ling) hurrying somewhere, was just silly. I noticed some clips were not in sequence either. There was one scene of newborn ducklings cut into a sequence where they were meant to be several weeks (?) old. There was little information; we did not even know where the family of elephants was. The film got weaker and weaker in my view. I love the African wilderness and nature movies, so this was a disappointment.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

An incredible story of love and determination. The elephants and their supporting characters will charm you and your children. A family movie if ever there was one. Deserving of the highest possible accolades! A must see!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Couldn't control the tears, and I NEVER cry. Moving documentary, stunning cinematography, can't praise the filmmakers enough for this touching, informative and fascinating look at the journey these beautiful animals go through.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

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Mark Deeble

Director

Victoria Stone

Director

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Narrator

Mark Deeble

Writer

Victoria Stone

Producer

Lucinda Englehart

Producer

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The Elephant Queen: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

A journey of family, courage, and coming home; joining Athena, the majestic matriarch, as she leads her elephant herd across an unforgiving African landscape filled with vibrant wildlife.

Director: Mark Deeble, Victoria Stone
Producer: Victoria Stone, Lucinda Englehart
Screenwriter: Mark Deeble
Distributor: Apple, A24
Production Co: Deeble & Stone
Rating: PG (Some Thematic Material)
Genre: Documentary, Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Original Language: British English
Release Date (Theaters): Oct 18, 2019, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 4, 2019
Runtime: 1h 36m