The Favourite Review

The Favourite is one of the leading candidates in this year’s award season, being an alternative take of British costume drama.

In the early 18th century the frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) sits on the throne of Great Britain. Her friend and advisor Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), plenty much rules the country. When Sarah’s cousin, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) comes to the palace she asks for a job and she slowly works her way up the ranks, becoming embroiled in the affairs of state.

The Favourite was directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, a man known for making art house films which are either loved or hated by audiences. On the surface The Favourite is his most traditional film – being seemingly a standard historical drama about a British monarch and their count. Yet he is able to inject his style and humour into the film.

Lanthimos gives audiences a warts-and-all look at the past. Whilst it is set in the palace where the women wear fancy dresses and the men have curly wigs, the film does not shy away from more grotesque moments of the period. Anne suffers from gout which makes her suffer from painful spells at night that results in swelling. One of Abigail’s first scene was sitting opposite a man masturbating in front of her and falling face first into the mud. She suffers from bullying maids and living in cramped conditions. This is far from a romanticised view of the past.

The cinematography by Robbie Ryan was similar to what Stanley Kubrick and John Alcott achieved with Barry Lyndon. Both films used mostly natural light and scenes at night were lit by candle or torches. The film was shot on location at Hatfield House and Hampton Court. All of these makes The Favourite look and feel authentic and that world of the film seemed lived in.

As a historical film The Favourite is historical fiction. Events are condensed or made up to serve the plot. The central conceit of the film was Anne and Sarah Churchill were having a sexual relationship was historical speculation at best. The Favourite takes the same approach as HBO’s Rome, a show that played fast-and-loose with the facts but wanted to be true to the period as the crown, government and warfare collide.

The Favourite does have three talented actresses playing rich characters. Olivia Colman has deservedly earned a lot of praise for her performance. Colman plays Queen Anne as if she has maniac depression – she suffered from violent mood swings where she can be happy, angry, and sad in quick succession and has suicidal tendencies, co-dependent and easily influenced. She was in no fit state to govern. The film does also show Anne’s softer side through her interactions with her rabbits and they offer an explanation on how her mental state came to be.

Weisz has the best role as Sarah Churchill. She basically ruled the country with Sidney Godolphin (James Smith), the Prime Minister and she was the gatekeeper to Anne. Sarah was a strong, intelligent woman with a sharp wit and loves sparring with her rivals. Even in direr situations she keeps her compositor. But Sarah does succumb to jealousy and her worst mistake was take her cousin under her wing, creating her greatest rival.

Emma Stone was properly cast to her ensure some American funding but there were no issues with her performance and she had a solid English accent. Her character had the greatest arc because she is a down-on-her-luck woman who has lost her title and status and has she has to crawl her way back to the top. The role was a bit like Sansa Stark – both are similarly nice, virtuous characters but being nice got them nowhere so had to develop a ruthless streak.

One of the great aspects was how the personal, court and political dramas were interwoven. A move in one theatre affected the others. Sarah and Abigail end up being tied to opposing political fractions and represent different positions – Sarah advocating war and taxation, Abigail being pro-peace. Although in Abigail’s case she takes these positions out of convenience than conviction. Despite the civility and decorum of the count characters were willing to backstab everyone and anyone at any given moment.

Lanthimos’ films are known for their wit and The Favourite was no exception. Characters make biting comments, especially Sarah Churchill and there are plenty of moments that would raise a smile like the interactions between Abigail and Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult).

Lanthimos is an art house director and he does indulge himself at times. Yet he finds the right balance between making a film that would have a mainstream appeal and subvert the expectations of its genre. The Favourite is a unique offering.