The Happy Prince offers an unflinching account of the last days of Oscar Wilde’s life

Rupert Everett stars in and directs his unflinching account of the last days of Oscar Wilde’s life, writes Esther McCarthy.

DEATH looms large in The Happy Prince, Rupert Everett’s account of the final days of Oscar Wilde. Haunted by ill health and detractors and debt collectors, the film is a gritty depiction of an undignified ending, worlds away from the glamour of Wilde’s heyday or the witty, sparkling characters who populate his masterpieces.