Here are two films portraying Queen Elizabeth, both starring Helen Mirren. I thought the initial film was more captivating; it utilizes her connection with Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, played by Jeremy Irons, to illustrate the complicated events during her time as queen. This includes having to contemplate marriage with the Duke of Anjou while dealing with malicious rumors and schemes originating from her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. The nation also faced the looming danger of the Spanish Armada. The second film shifts its focus towards her alleged relationship with the Earl of Essex's adopted son, Hugh Dancy, which allows Mirren more freedom to deviate from the stricter historical timeline of her early reign. I’m not particularly fond of Jeremy Irons; he often seems like a one-dimensional actor who resorts to predictable displays of anger, but in this instance, he complements Mirren well, alongside Patrick Malahide's portrayal of Walsingham and Ian McDiarmid’s subtly playful depiction of her chief advisor, Lord Burghley. Toby Jones takes over the latter role as his son and successor during a later period of her rule, coinciding with her growing attraction to the assertive young Essex. She soon discovers that she may have inadvertently fostered a dangerous influence close to her. Hugh Dancy is adequately cast and portrays the impressionable young man who begins to crave excessive recognition, but the chemistry between him and Mirren isn’t as believable, nor do the supporting actors contribute as significantly to what became a well-known story originally presented by Bette Davis and Errol Flynn in 1939. Liberties are taken with historical accuracy, but the core narrative remains reasonably true, and these are two pleasant, albeit heavily reliant on CGI, dramatizations that merit a few hours of viewing time.

Source on TMDB