It's the 1970 Miss World competition in London. Bob Hope (Greg Kinnear) is to be the host. Eric Morley (Rhys Ifans) is the organizer. Women are objectified in society. Sally Alexander (Keira Knightley) is divorced with a young girl. She gets into University College London for higher learning. She joins a women's liberation movement but is trying to work within the system. On the other hand, Jo Robinson (Jessie Buckley) is looking to take down the whole system, one graffiti at a time. Miss Sweden Marjorie Johansson is the favorite but is bitter at the situation. Due to pressure against apartheid, Morley quickly adds a black contestant from South Africa in addition to the white Miss South Africa. Miss Grenada Jennifer Hosten (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) wants to be a broadcaster.
It's a bit of lesser known history. It's told in a relatively light fashion. The characters are essentially split into three groups. Knightley and Buckley lead the story of the protesters. The three contestants form the group inside the pageant. Bob Hope and Morley are the clueless men representing the male patriarchy. Each group contributes something important and interesting. There are little nuggets of greatness but they are scattered everywhere. The movie would function better and more cohesively with fewer main characters. At last, that may not be possible to tell the whole story. There is a lot of stuff crammed into this light comedic movie. I do question the final meeting between Hosten and Alexander. Maybe it happened in real life. I would think that Hosten would be better off talking to Johnasson which is more likely. The meeting in the movie feels somewhat manufactured. All in all, one learns a little bit of light history done in a light humorous way.
