French king Louis XV – father of the Louis who lost his head to the French Revolution – was smitten when he first met Jeanne du Barry, a courtesan offered up by an ambitious count eager to curry royal favour. Johnny Depp plays Louis with desiccated charisma, while director Maiwenn plays Jeanne, a working-class woman who was also witty, well-read and had her own ambitions. With Louis she had a genuinely devoted partnership and real power, much to the chagrin of other court players, but with her king’s death came her downfall. Handsomely mounted, with many scenes filmed within the real Palace of Versailles, this historical romance is as seductive as its heroine and rich as the sweets constantly nibbled by the ladies plotting Jeanne’s defeat. Johnny Depp returns as French king Louis XV in this sumptuous account of the career of his most famous mistress, working-class courtesan Jeanne du Barry.