The Bodyguard star joins Keira Knightley, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Jessie Buckley and more in the star-studded cast of Misbehaviour

eeley Hawes fans, listen up! The acclaimed British star’s brilliant period drama, Misbehaviour, is leaving Netflix next week, which means viewers only have a few days to stream the film before it disappears from the platform.

The 2020 film, which boasts an impressive 87 per cent Rotten Tomatoes rating, is based on a true story and follows a group of women who disrupted the 1970 Miss World contest in London.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY GUGU MBATHA-RAW © Alamy Stock Photo
The film follows a group of women who disrupted the 1970 Miss World contest in London

This entertaining, true story-inspired dramatisation perfectly blends light-hearted comedy with powerful, serious themes, such as sexism and racism. If you’re looking for an uplifting, crowd-pleaser, then Misbehaviour is one to put on your watchlist this week.

What is Misbehaviour about?

Set in 1970s London, the film follows members of the newly formed Women’s Liberation Movement, who grouped together to protest the 1970 Miss World competition from the audience.

At the time, Miss World, hosted by comedy legend Bob Hope (played by Greg Kinnear), was the most-watched TV show on the planet at the time, with over 100 million viewers.

Rhys Ifans, Keeley Hawes in Misbehaviour© Alamy Stock Photo
Rhys Ifans and Keeley Hawes play Miss World pageant executives in the film

But the Women’s Liberation Movement claimed that beauty competitions were demeaning and disrupted the competition’s live broadcast.

The synopsis continues: “Not only that, when the show resumed, the result caused uproar: the winner was not the Swedish favourite but Miss Grenada, the first black woman to be crowned Miss World. In a matter of hours, a global audience had witnessed the patriarchy driven from the stage and the Western ideal of beauty turned on its head.”

Who stars in Misbehaviour?

The film boasts a star-studded cast, led by Keira Knightley as Sally Alexander, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Jennifer Hosten (Miss Grenada), Jessie Buckley as Jo Robinson and Keeley Hawes as Julia Morley.

Keira Knightley at the Misbehaviour premiere© Getty
Keira Knightley leads the star-studded cast

Meanwhile, Phyllis Logan also stars as Evelyn Alexander, alongside Lesley Manville as Dolores Hope, Rhys Ifans as Eric Morley and Suki Waterhouse as Sandra Wolsfeld (Miss United States).

What have audiences and critics said about the film?

Viewers have hailed the film as “excellent” and “engaging”, with one person writing in an online review: “Misbehaviour tells an important story well; it’s fairly fast-moving, has some great performances and is always engaging,” while another praised the performances of the cast, adding: “Misbehaviour is a great, reasonably balanced if a little formulaic comedy drama that’s funny and relevant. Keira Knightley and Gugu Mbatha-Raw are both incredible.”

The film was met with mainly positive reviews from critics, with The Guardian describing the drama as “charming” and a “likable comedy of bizarre and farcical 1970 Miss World”.

Meanwhile, The Times said that while the film’s “simplicity can’t fully do justice to the story,” it’s “designed for uplift, not deep dives”.

When is the last day to watch Misbehaviour on Netflix?

The film leaves Netflix this month. The last day to stream the film is 24 March.