Written by: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Starring: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz
IMDb Link
As before, I'm putting together a slightly more presentable new website, and you can read the review for The Favourite there as well.
Between The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer, this was by far the least weird and most coherent movie I've seen from Yorgos Lanthimos. I'm sure some people will miss the utter absurdity of his work, but personally if he continues to work with people who write movies as fantastic as this then I'll take the compromise.
The film's writing is incredible, and the performances of the three leads sells it completely. The characters can't even get half-way through a conversation before someone slips an insult in like poison in to tea, and the power of the words they doll out is juxtaposed cleverly against the appearance of a stiff upper lip, only for such a facade to be broken down over and over and over again. It also contrasts with the approach of the men in the movie, particularly Leader of the Opposition Harley (played with delicious extravagance by Nicolas Hoult), whose failures at maintaining respect are met with instant and hilariously brutal responses (his character has one of the best utterances of the word "c*nt" put to film). There's almost never a dull moment, as the characters build up Machiavellian plans in such a way for the audience to have a sumptuous feast of comedic irony, or meet an expected turn that then jolts with shock humour.
What adds so much to it all is the nuance in the performances, the writing and the tone. Abigail is at first vulnerable, and there's a great sense of triumph at her successes when she's downtrodden, but as the film goes on that triumph turns to guilt. Likewise, Lady Sarah is deceptive enough to always carry a minor hatred beneath her marvelous charm, but despite her actions there's an undeniable sympathy for her at her nadir. Both Stone and Weisz manage to play these complex roles to extraordinary effect, each playing to the writing's strengths and working with one another to create characters that become more interesting with every word spoken between them, but even they are somewhat overshadowed by the prodigious work of Colman. Queen Anne at first appears as little more than naivete, a sickly blank slate for Abigail's and Lady Sarah's plans to bounce off of, yet by the end of the film she is an absolute powerhouse that shows how little all of their work added up to. This transformation doesn't come easy either, it's earned through the rare moments where the film drops its own facade of arch people doing arch things for the sake of absurdity and reminds the audience that the people can still be real and wounded and struggling. The film plays to this slow revelation of the Queen's character in these moments too, the walls blurring and turning, and her face stricken with fear and disorientation. It's a piece the film didn't need in order to be good, yet its inclusion elevates the film to rare heights of excellence, and Colman plays and indelible role in the character's realisation.
The Short Version: The interplay between the three leading ladies is truly magnificent, and its measured combination of wit, irony and shock humour makes The Favourite utterly charming, while the deliberate tonal shifts and moments of distorted perspective help to emphasise the nuance of the commanding performances of the core cast.
Rating: 9/10
Published January 25th, 2019
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