Amma Asante, already a favourite of mine, directs this true story of a handsome prince and his true love. In the wrong hands this could easily be a syrupy, virtuous, snore-fest but in the hands of Asante you get a story with huge world-changing themes, and the decisions made by Ruth and Seretse really could be said to be world-changing, distilled through a personal story. She never loses sight of the real love story that started it all between two people of hugely different backgrounds who knew that they were meant to be together and never let anything stand in their way.

It helps any director to have great actors in their main roles and with David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike you have two performers at the top of their game. You know what you are going to get, cast them in roles that if fictional would have been written for them, and your already half-way there. The chemistry between Oyelowo and Pike is up there in front of you and makes the love story real and therefore the peril, the heartache, and the peril doubly so.

The story zips along at a pace that only lags slightly in the middle but certainly not enough to be distracting and the beautiful African scenes shot in the actual country of Botswana, that Bechuanaland eventually became, show that if ever there is a place that loves being filmed it is that continent. The contrast with the almost dystopian scenes of post-war Britain and you can almost taste the stuffy oppression of the establishment.

The rest of the cast is equally impressive as the leads and if I have any criticism then perhaps the disappointment of having two Sir Jasper Naughty-Bonces in the story in the able forms of Jack Davenport and Tom Felton felt too forced for me. It is a pet peeve of mine that film-makers do this citing that they need a focal point for the audience to dislike and hate, a baddy made flesh as it were. Perhaps I’m strange but I don’t. During the film it was obvious to me the British establishment was bad, intransigent and as superior as they two characters were. This is just a fault with me, all filmmakers do it and clearly with good reason.

There is no one involved in the British government who comes out looking good in this film and I’d love to say that it was exaggerated to the point of making a point by Amma Asante but if anything she eased back on it.

If this film only does one thing I hope it makes the viewer go and research the real story. It is fascinating and in some way gives you a sliver of hope for the human race.

This is another Amma Asante triumph and whilst it clearly has a serious point to say about racism, colonialism the inhumanity of governments and the establishment it is very much about the strength of true love and in that way this is what makes it a strong and memorable film.