Esther, the beautiful queen of Persia, intervenes to save the Jewish people from a bloody massacre.
Acting
Louise Lombard's calculated stillness — she weaponizes femininity.
Production
Surprisingly lush for a TV movie — those Persian sets slapped.
Writing
The dialogue actually crackles; Haman's villainy is delicious.
Director
Raffaele Mertes
Louise Lombard
Esther
Ornella Muti
Königin Waschti
F. Murray Abraham
Mordechai
Jürgen Prochnow
Haman
Thomas Kretschmann
König Xerxes
John Hollis
Harbona
Umberto Orsini
Memuchan
Natasha Williams
Maimuna
Peter Halliday
Karschena
Christopher Ettridge
Hatach
Darren Bransford
Nehemia
Peter Guinness
Admatha
Bruce Purchase
Hauptmann der Wache
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Book of Esther is the only biblical text never mentioning God directly — this adaptation leans into that absence, making human cunning the engine of salvation.
F. Murray Abraham won his Oscar playing Salieri in Amadeus; here he's Mordechai, the uncle engineering a queen's rise. The man knows his way around court intrigue.
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