The Favourite is a weirdly wonderful period piece that is a deserving best picture nominee.
In this world of Game of Thrones costume film and tv shows, The Favourite is an original piece. A typical black British comedy lead by two great British actors and a familiar American. Set in the reign of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman), a power struggle evolves for the personal affection of the Queen, with Lady Sarah (Rachael Weisz) and her cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) fawning for the erratic desire of Anne. Britain is at war with France and power is at play in court. Lady Sarah is the favourite of the Queen and essentially runs court for the fragile Anne.
The power at court is felt but with distinction from the shows like Game of Thrones. Comedy is at play, in this pure comedy form. A good comedy sneaks’ tragedy but keeps us laughing throughout. Every scene the audience is fortunate enough to witness the wit between the cast and the writer’s talent to gift us lines that rattle our brains with laughter, with great use of the English language. Some of the most inventive use of swear words, in conjunction with simple words, makes the sentences unique and cause a reaction of laughter.
A simple movie of power, that is embodied by Anne, who Abigail vies to steal her attention from Lady Sarah, to become The Favourite. Other cast members like that of Nicholas Holt are enjoyable, with chemistry being distributed well throughout the cast. Don’t get this wrong, however, this movie’s charm, originality and uniqueness is in the dynamic interactions between our three leads. Coleman plays Anne intricately within this trio and well deserve of her BAFTA, and future awards.
A film which is overall brimming with absurdity, very much in the style of director Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously director The Lobster. The movie takes place pretty much all in the country Manor of the Queen, providing the audience with intense laughter throughout the up and downs of Anne’s reign. The film becomes slightly repetitive with similar jokes unfortunately, becoming slightly tiring towards an ambiguous end, that I am still seeing trying to work out the symbolism of. Despite this, one of the best movies of this award season and worth all the recognition for this film, which boiling over with talent.
This movie is uniquely funny, with world-class delivery.
By James Evans