Judi Dench Goes By". The Dame was sparkly and downright ravishing." As with most of the original cast, Dench reprised the role of Evelyn in John Madden's "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" (2015), the sequel to the 2011 sleeper hit. The comedy-drama was released to lukewarm reviews from critics, who found it "as original as its title – but with a cast this talented and effortlessly charming, that hardly matters". From April to May 2015, Dench played a mother, with her real-life daughter Finty Williams playing her character's daughter, in "The Vote" at the Donmar Warehouse. The final performance was broadcast
Judi Dench Also in 2017, Dench reprised the role of Queen Victoria when she headlined Stephen Frears's "Victoria & Abdul". The biographical comedy-drama depicts the real-life relationship between the monarch and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim, played by opposite Ali Fazal. While the film was met with lukewarm reviews for its "imbalanced narrative", Dench earned specific praise for her performance, earning the actress her 12th Golden Globe nomination. Dench's last film that year was Kenneth Branagh's "Murder on the Orient Express", based on the 1934 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie. The mystery–drama ensemble film follows world-renowned detective Hercule