The 10 Most Underrated Judi Dench Movies, Ranked (From Least to Most Underrated)

Judi Dench has a filmography that stretches from intimate character studies to global box office hits. She is widely known for towering roles, yet many strong performances end up overshadowed by the biggest titles people mention first. This list shines a light on screen work that deserves more attention within her long career.

Below are ten films that show the range of stories she chooses and the variety of collaborators she works with. You will find biographical drama, literary adaptation, wartime memoir, and contemporary thrillers. Each entry includes straightforward details about the story, the creative team, and the recognition the movie picked up along the way.

‘Red Joan’ (2018)

This espionage drama adapts Jennie Rooney’s novel about Joan Stanley, a British civil servant accused late in life of passing atomic secrets to the Soviets. Judi Dench plays the older Joan as the investigation unfolds, while Sophie Cookson portrays the younger version seen in extended flashbacks. The film draws its premise from the real case of Melita Norwood and sets key sequences around Cambridge research circles and postwar London.

Trevor Nunn directs, with the production leaning on contrasting time periods to frame questions about loyalty, ideology, and personal cost. The cast includes Tom Hughes, Tereza Srbova, and Ben Miles. Principal photography took place in the UK, and the release brought attention to the screenplay’s blend of historical inspiration and fictionalized interrogation-room structure.

‘All Is True’ (2018)

Set after the 1613 Globe Theatre fire, this period drama follows William Shakespeare’s return to Stratford-upon-Avon. Kenneth Branagh directs and stars as Shakespeare, and Judi Dench plays Anne Hathaway during the writer’s final years. The story focuses on family grief connected to Hamnet’s death and on the household’s day-to-day rhythms far from the London stage.

Ben Elton wrote the screenplay, and the film uses locations such as Dorney Court to recreate Jacobean interiors. Ian McKellen appears as the Earl of Southampton. Costumes and production design emphasize domestic detail rather than courtly spectacle, and the release rolled out through specialty distributors that target historical and literary cinema.

‘The Shipping News’ (2001)

Adapted from Annie Proulx’s Pulitzer Prize novel, this drama follows a struggling widower who relocates to Newfoundland with his young daughter and his aunt. Judi Dench plays the aunt, whose practical guidance anchors the move to a stark coastal community. Kevin Spacey and Julianne Moore co-star, with key scenes set inside a small-town newspaper where the title’s “shipping news” column becomes a narrative motif.

Lasse Hallström directs, drawing on North Atlantic landscapes for atmosphere and on fishing village locations for authenticity. Cate Blanchett appears in an early role that intersects with the family’s past. The production filmed in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and the adaptation keeps the book’s emphasis on rebuilding a life through work, place, and kin.

‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ (2002)

Oliver Parker’s screen version of Oscar Wilde’s play features Judi Dench as Lady Bracknell. The story centers on identity mix-ups and courtship in Victorian society, with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth as friends whose invented personas complicate engagements. Reese Witherspoon and Frances O’Connor round out the leads as the women whose expectations push the plot toward reveals.

The production revisits classic London locations and country estates while retaining Wilde’s dialogue as the primary engine of the comedy. Costuming and set decoration lean into late nineteenth century fashion, and Tom Wilkinson contributes a key supporting turn. The adaptation keeps the play’s compact structure and adds brief outdoor sequences to widen the stage-bound action.

‘Tea with Mussolini’ (1999)

Inspired by Franco Zeffirelli’s youth, this ensemble drama follows a circle of expatriate British women in Florence before and during the Second World War. Judi Dench portrays a cultured teacher among the group known as the Scorpioni. Maggie Smith, Cher, Joan Plowright, and Lily Tomlin co-star as the friends whose routines shift as politics harden across Italy.

The film was shot in Florence and San Gimignano and maps real historical events onto a coming-of-age thread that ties the women to a young boy’s artistic path. Costumes and locations highlight the city’s museums and squares, with wartime restrictions gradually reshaping the characters’ daily life. The script blends memoir elements with dramatized incidents drawn from the director’s recollections.

‘Iris’ (2001)

This biographical drama adapts John Bayley’s memoirs about novelist and philosopher Iris Murdoch. Judi Dench plays Murdoch in later years as she faces Alzheimer’s disease, while Kate Winslet plays the younger Iris during her rise as a writer. Jim Broadbent portrays Bayley, whose perspective guides many scenes set in Oxford and along English rivers.

Richard Eyre directs, intercutting timelines to place Murdoch’s intellectual curiosity alongside the challenges of illness. The film received Academy Award nominations for Dench and Winslet, and Broadbent won Best Supporting Actor. The production keeps close to the real couple’s habits, including swimming and public readings, and uses classroom and lecture hall settings to echo the pair’s academic life.

‘Mrs Henderson Presents’ (2005)

Set in London between the wars, this period drama tells the true story of Laura Henderson and the Windmill Theatre’s distinctive revues. Judi Dench plays Henderson, who purchases and renovates the venue, while Bob Hoskins portrays her manager Vivian Van Damm. The film tracks how the company’s nude tableaux and “we never closed” reputation carried through the Blitz.

Stephen Frears directs, with musical numbers staged to show the theater’s evolving program and backstage logistics. The production recreates Soho streets and wartime shelters and features songs and costumes tailored to the revue format. Dench received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, and the film earned additional recognition for costume and design.

‘Mrs Brown’ (1997)

This historical drama follows Queen Victoria’s deepening reliance on Scottish servant John Brown during her long period of mourning. Judi Dench plays Victoria, and Billy Connolly co-stars as Brown, whose presence unsettles court routines and political optics. The story traces royal duties, Highland retreats at Balmoral, and news coverage that fed public debate.

John Madden directs, using locations in Scotland and England to show separate worlds of court and countryside. Dench earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress and won major British awards for the role. The film’s careful attention to etiquette, correspondence, and press caricature places the relationship inside the era’s expectations of monarchy and privacy.

‘Victoria & Abdul’ (2017)

Based on Shrabani Basu’s nonfiction book, this film depicts Queen Victoria’s late-life friendship with Indian clerk Abdul Karim. Judi Dench returns to the role of Victoria, with Ali Fazal as Abdul and Adeel Akhtar and Eddie Izzard in principal supporting parts. The narrative begins with a ceremonial coin presentation and expands to lessons, language study, and palace tensions.

Stephen Frears directs, and the movie was nominated for Academy Awards in costume design and makeup and hairstyling. Production took place across heritage sites in the UK and India, and the script draws from archival research that surfaced Karim’s diaries. The film highlights correspondence, gifts, and court records to chart how the relationship was recorded and remembered.

‘Notes on a Scandal’ (2006)

Adapted from Zoë Heller’s novel, this psychological drama centers on a veteran teacher who documents a colleague’s affair with a student. Judi Dench plays Barbara Covett, whose journals drive the narrative and whose encounters with Cate Blanchett’s character shape the investigation. The plot uses London secondary school settings and staff rooms to establish timeline and opportunity.

Richard Eyre directs, with a score by Philip Glass that underlines the tension. The film received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The production schedules classroom scenes around actual school hours, and the script maintains the source material’s focus on records, entries, and narrative control.

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