Quirky director Lanthimos can't decide whether he's laughing at or sympathizing with his characters in early 18th century tale of royal shenanigans

Rating: 4/10 (26 December 2018)

Deborah Davis is the screenwriter of The Favourite, best described as a black comedy focused principally on the reign of England's Queen Anne in the early 18th century. Davis began writing the screenplay in 1998 so kudos to her in persisting in getting this made. You can tell that there is a serious underside to the narrative but at the hands of director Yorgos Lanthimos, his weird farcical take is imprinted all over it.

The Favourite is a story about a love triangle involving the Queen and two women vying for her attention and power within the Court. It's very loosely based on fact and Lanthimos focuses on the most salacious aspects, attempting to convince us there was an actual intimate (physical) relationship between the principals. The majority of historians would probably disagree including Winston Churchill who wrote about one of the principals in the love triangle, his ancestor, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough.

When we're first introduced to Queen Anne, it becomes apparent that she's a seriously disturbed woman, who has endured the deaths of 17 children (she keeps 17 rabbits that represent each of her deceased children). Today the Queen might have been diagnosed as bipolar, prone to frequent bursts of uncontrollable anger which members of the Court end up obsequiously enduring.

Sarah is initially the Queen's primary adviser (as well as lover); today she would probably be seen as a conservative as she wholeheartedly supports the war effort with France. The political opposition is represented by Robert Harley, a member of Parliament and wealthy landowner.

We're soon introduced to Abigail Hill, a distant cousin of Sarah, who must work as a scullery maid after her father loses his fortune due to gambling debts. Abigail seizes the opportunity to ingratiate herself with the Queen (craftily massaging Anne's inflamed legs with herbs), eventually usurping Sarah's position as lady-in-waiting. Marley uses Abigail to spy on Sarah to gain insight into her schemes.

The plot takes a nasty turn when Abigail poisons Sarah, who then falls off her horse while taking a trip, and sustains a large cut on her face. Anne makes it clear she no longer wants to speak with Sarah. The Queen rewards Abigail by granting Nobleman Samuel Masham's wish to marry her-thus restoring Abigail's aristocratic standing.

Sarah blackmails the Queen by threatening to release letters of their secret (lesbian) relationship. Despite changing her mind and burning the letters, the Queen ends up banishing Sarah from the Court for life.

All of these shenanigans might not have been too bad, but unfortunately Lanthimos doesn't know whether he's laughing at or sympathizing with his characters. The narrative morphs into an unpleasant hybrid of some believable historical fiction coupled with a coterie of buffoonish, cartoon-like characters. One particularly ridiculous scene has Abigail wrestling with Masham out in the woods. Lanthimos attempts to get mileage out of all the fawning sycophants who are constantly forced to kow-tow to their ruler-we get the point about the fawning early on and what it ultimately amounts to is massive overkill!

Olivia Colman gives a standout performance as the over the top queen along with Rachel Weisz, who presents the Duchess of Marlborough as wonderfully cold and calculating. Emma Stone as Abigail perhaps has the best scene with Colman at film's end: the Queen humiliates Abigail after she mistreats one of her precious rabbits, revealing herself to be just as cold and sadistic as her banished rival, Sarah. Scenes like that are few and far between in The Favourite, as its quirky director seeks instead to find laughs where few exist.