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There was this movie a few years ago called The Lobster with such luminaries as Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, and Olivia Colman, and boy, was it a weird movie. I thought it was alright, but it had a very shaggy quality to it, a surrealness that kept it from being a true cult classic in my book. The director followed it up with The Killing of a Sacred Deer last year, but that was also darkly baroque. I think finally he’s made a movie I can unequivocally recommend.
The Favourite comes from director Yorgos Lanthimos, and takes place in the early 18th century in the court of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman again). The film is loosely, and I mean loosely, based on the real history of the time. The Queen is in poor health constantly, and seems ill-suited to lead a country at all. She is assisted greatly with the help of her great friend Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz also again), who is a shockingly intimidating presence despite being only five and half feet tall.
Sarah has her own desires and machinations, trying to clean up the war with the French, but she is pushed back by opposition leader Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult, a relative giant at six foot three) who wants lower taxes, because isn’t that always the way? Sarah also manages the Queen by virtue of being her secret lover, something that nobody knows about … for a while.
A new arrival shows up at the court, Sarah’s cousin (one of over a dozen) Abigail Masham (Emma Stone, the lone Yank in the mix playing British). Abigail was a lady but lost everything due to her father’s debts, so she’s desperate for anything. Sarah decides to permit Abigail to become a servant and be a sort of mentor, but she soon regrets the decision when Abigail tries to supplant her place as the Queen’s favourite.
The dark comedy continues as the two fight against each other in various ways subtle and overt, all while Harley continues to try to gain his own power in the sidelines. Here in the court the style is that all the men are highly painted with enormous curly wigs, the women in tight corsets and more natural makeup styles. It’s an interest dichotomy, with the real romance a lesbian love triangle between three women, two vying for control and one trying to regain it.
These three actresses were exceptionally good here, with pitch perfect comic timing and precisely the right amount of pathos as needed. The French war is essentially a MacGuffin, a point to talk about to keep the drama going. The fun here is to see what these two will do next to hurt the other. But ignore the Wikipedia articles on Queen Anne, you don’t want to spoil the ending, even if it’s only marginally close to accurate of the real history.
I also really enjoyed Nicholas Hoult’s performance here, perhaps his first as a real cad. There are other little roles here and there, but the four I mentioned are the real ones to keep an eye on. I think that perhaps this may be Yorgos’ first real shot at an Oscar, because the Academy loves their costume dramas, and although this isn’t a typical sort, it still has a lot of the trademarks the industry adores.
This is one of those ‘Oscar bait’ movies that I actually recommend, because it’s enjoyable in a fun way instead of a dark, depressing, or nihilistic way like so many award contenders. Come for Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, stay for Olivia Colman sinking her teeth in a truly weird monarch for the ages.
The Favourite has a run time of 2 hours and is rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language.
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