"The Favourite" vs. "Mary Queen of Scots": and the winner is...

Rating: 7/10 (26 December 2018)

"The Favourite" (2018 release; 119 min.) brings the story of Queen Anne. As the movie opens, we see her, in frail condition, while her closest confidante, Sarah, seems to be directing most of Britain's business. Then arrives Abigail, Sarah's cousin, desperately looking for a job. She gets a low-level job but it isn;t long before she manages to findthe Queen's interest (treating her legs' burns), and before we known it, Sarah and Abigail are in a fight for the Queen's graces... To tell you more of the movie's plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just haven to see for yourself how it all plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from director Yorgos Lanthimos, who previously brought us "off center" movies like "The Lobster" and just last year's "The Killing of a Sacred Deer". This movie is very much in the same vein, another "off center", this time, historical piece, based on more-or-less true events taking place in the early 1700s. Frankly, it took me a while to get into the movie, as the first half establishes the overall sense (Abigail the newcomer vs. Sarah the power-person), and it wasn't really clear whether this was comedy or drama, but the movie's second half resolves that dilemma: this is drama, and court intrigue at the highest level. The movie's greatest asset is the lead performances of the three ladies: Olivia Colman (as Queen Anne), Rachael Weisz (as Sarah) and Emily Stone (as Abigail). I don't think I can point out which is the better, all three of them are just outstanding. But make no mistake: this is not just another historical drama, as director Lanthimos puts his very much "off center" stamp on it and it makes not for your "standard" viewing. The movie has been getting rave critical acclaim, and while I think this is a good movie for sure, I am just a little bit puzzled, frankly. On the other hand, when you compare this to that other recent historical drama (set 150 years earlier), "Mary Queen of Scots", then "The Favourite" is the better movie of the two.
"The Favourite" opened this weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The early Christmas Eve evening screening where I saw this at was attended okay (about 20 people or so). If you are interested in historical dramas with an "off-center" bent, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it at the theater, on VOD, or on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.