Vicious, bawdy tale of a queen's court

Rating: 10/10 (2 December 2018)

Yorgos Lanthimos takes on the biopic genre in this serpentine and visually striking depiction of Queen Anne in her diminished condition and her shifting companionship between Lady Sarah, who largely took over the reigns of the state and Abigail, a young woman who comes to the court as a servant but quickly earns the queen's fondness. Abigail becomes a foil not only for Lady Sarah but for the male leaders in Parliament.
Emma Watson and Rachel Weisz play well off each other as Abigail and Lady Sarah respectively. Olivia Coleman is a joy to watch as the frail but furiously combustible Queens Anne. Nicholas Hoult is solid in a supporting turn as the leader of Parliament opposition.
The film is loaded with Lanthimosian dark humor but also cold mystery and austere cinematography and camerawork. In time, we get to know the quirks, hidden secrets and impulses of all three characters as the court confronts the pressures of war with France and political instability at home- and more privately as the queen's closest female confidants duel for their place.
One of Lanthimos's best films to date, this one will keep you on the edge until the very last frame with one memorable sequence after another. Recommended to the highest degree.