Definitely Make You Uncomfortable and Cinematically Poetic

Rating: 10/10 (6 January 2019)

This is my first review ever in IMDB and the lucky film that I've chosen is 'The Favourite' (2018), a film directed by the Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. It's very likely that if you never watched his previous works such as Dogtooth (2009), The Lobster (2015), and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017), you would not be very keen on this film, because Lanthimos also exploited a lot of his well-known trademarks in this film. Some level of absurdities and some 'on-the-edge' black comedies are very eminent. Some of the characters also occasionally spoke in a flat-tone and weird manner, although not very obvious. The combination that will make you uncomfortable. I'm not entirely sure if this film holds very much to the historical accuracy, due to those absurdities and exaggeration. That is why I will clear myself from reviewing the historical accuracy perspective.
The performance by Olivia Colman was incredible. The combination of Colman's incredible acting and the Lanthimos' unique directing, made some scene put you on the verge of feeling uncomfortable. For example, the "Look at Me" scene (you can find it on Youtube), is very remarkable. It is indeed very funny, but at the same time, you can't help feeling sad for Queen Anne. The way Colman's portrayed the character at that moment gave you a glimpse of how sad and lonely The Queen truly is. When I watched this specific part on the screen, I felt so bad for laughing at The Queen. That's where I knew that Lanthimos has succeeded in achieving his goal to create an uncomfortable feeling inside me. It is just brilliant, also it is proof that you do not need a long background story to create an empathetic feeling to the main character. I heard about Queen Anne before but I did not have enough curiosity to find more about her. But after this film, certainly, I do.
In addition, it is cinematically poetic. One thing I noticed was a lot of use wide lens/fish-eye lens on some scenes, mostly used at the beginning of a new scene. It amplified the sense of spacious but containment simultaneously. For me, it created the feeling of dramatic isolation, which basically what I have captured from The Queen's live. Not to mention good camera's work, vibrant colors, and gorgeous costume designs, they made this film genuinely intriguing. The performance by supporting actress also need to be praised highly, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, because they definitely delivered their jobs. I could grasp their intense rivalry in the air by just observing their staring and glare towards each other. Also, Emma Stone spoke in a British accent!
One thing that I found that could be improved is the ending. Given that the whole film is very dramatic already, the ending falls a bit flat to me. I can see the ending from a mile away because it is very predictable. That's why some additional element probably could be added to give more flavor to this predictable result. Normally, people knew specifically when a film ended, but when I saw the end of the film, I was like "Is that all? Okay then." Now, I am not really sure if it is a good thing or a bad one because in a way I say the film is not long enough. I want more.