Though the show is cunningly directed by Phyllida Lloyd and given the proper vulgar acrylic touch by the designer Mark Thompson, the question a multimillion-dollar McGuffin remains unanswered.
It would be hard, no doubt, for any team of British filmmakers to deal with a figure as masterful, virulent, and divisive as Thatcher, but this bio-pic, written by Abi Morgan and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is an oddly unsettled compound of glorification and malice.