Amazing performance from Kiera Knightly

Rating: 9/10 (26 March 2020)

I thought Kiera was one of those actresses you call in to duck-bill her lips and look hot but she proved her chops in this. She really brings out the pain, heartbreak, and at turns, the enduring spirit and humor of the Duchesd of Devonshire. Her marriage was the dictionary definition of a gilded cage and there wasn't a moment I didn't want to reach in and slap her husband. The film attempts to humanize him at points, implying that he might be just as trapped by the imperial system, but it was hard to buy that after he rapes her and takes on her best friend as a permanent in-house mistress. The only other complaint I have is that the duchesses affair with her childhood lover isn't given much screentime. I just couldn't see the chemistry and he looked like a dollar store Rami Malek.