Totally absorbing

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2018)

Well researched historical fact, skillfully enhanced with fiction when necessary timewise to emphasise the development of attitudes and relationships, and the odd surreal sequence, make a fascinating blend that provided me with two hours rapt enjoyment. Not only is the acting faultless but the decor and costumes facilitated my travel to a time when the European Royal Courts were claustrophobic capsules of opulence idleness and decadence. We are only thirty years or so on from the Restoration and the Court of the Merry Monarch Charles II. Morals were lax, language was sexually explicit, encouraged and practiced by the King himself. The young bucks of that era were now in late middle age - the types of weird practices portrayed in the film were common.at Anne's Court.
Lanthimos is clearly in love with his characters. His cameras dwell long moments in close up on their motionless faces. A free spirit, he will leap out of period to provoke extreme emotional response. Without giving anything away, we have hip hop/dirty dancing to provoke jealousy, unarmed combat skills to illustrate dominance in courtship. These surreal sequences are hilarious..
I cannot speak too highly of the performances of the three main characters. Olivia Colman as the Queen handles the complex character and sudden changes of mood as totally believable - imperious without ever losing the air of vulnerability and fear of isolation. Rachel Weisz as Sarah is impressively dominant, hugely self confident until everything suddenly changes for her - beautifully handled. Emma Stone is quite ravishing as Abigail - I stood by her even at her most dastardly! The lesbian activity? It certainly heightens the tension and there is historical documentation that there were suspicions voiced that both affairs actually took place..
I have rarely felt so sorry to see the titles rolling after two fleeting hours, not because the end was not clear - the message was there for all to see - but because I just wanted this film to go on and on...