The Favourite

The Favourite 2018

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos who directed Dogtooth, The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster. Now he brings us this period comedy-drama that has a lot of Oscar hype surrounding it.

Set in 18th century England during the court of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Rachel Weisz plays Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, who is a confidante and advisor to the Queen. The power shifts when the Duchess’s younger cousin (Emma Stone) arrives to court, and the two women battle for influence and for the Queen’s affections.

Top class acting is what is on display from the first to the last minute. Colman, Weisz and Stone are brilliant. Colman in particular seems to be having a blast as she goes from manically depressed to angry, to isolated, to gleefully happy, all in one scene. Weisz and Stone are both top drawer too. Their in-fighting and attempts to gain favour from the Queen are delivered beautifully. You change your allegiances from one character to the other as they expertly take you on their journey.

Yorgos Lanthimos has had me writhing in my seat when I saw some of his other films. I found them uncomfortable to watch, with very little going for them. Monotone delivery of the scripts (under his specific instruction) from casts that can act, but were not allowed to, left me feeling cold. When I found out he was directing this I went out of my way to not see it. That was a mistake.

There is enough here for fans of The Killing of a Sacred Deer and The Lobster to see it’s still the same director, but this is easily his most commercial feature to date and for me it was a massive step up. His usual cold, sterile environments have been swapped for the big and brash backdrop of early 1700’s royal courts, and the awkward dialogue changed to much less awkward, way more funny and sometimes shocking lines. The usual decorum of a period drama has been thrown aside for this raucous and lively movie.

There is a palpable shift in tone from the first two acts to the third as the humour drops and the drama take centre stage and turns even darker then it already was.

The production design and cinematography are amazing. Some stunning monochromatic sets that were so huge they made the cast look tiny which just helped in the feeling of solitude that they felt at times throughout the film.

With some levels of farce that rival Blackadder II or a Shakespeare comedy, levels of drama that rivals Dangerous Liaisons, and levels of acting talents that may not have a rival in it’s genre, this period drama is of the highest quality. There is no surprise to me that it has this much Oscar buzz surrounding it. All fully deserved and out of the ten nominations it has received (Although only nine possible as two are in the same category) I would hope it wins 4 or 5. Don’t think either Stone or Weisz will win Best Supporting Actress and not sure if Olivia Colman will win Best Actress as Glenn Close is by all accounts amazing in The Wife and is an Academy favourite, but she is outstanding in this film.

A bonkers but enthralling, fun ride of a movie that had me engrossed from start to finish. *thunderous applause*