Don't waste your time or money on this one

Rating: 2/10 (21 December 2018)

Throughout this movie characters vomit. While I wouldn't say that it will make you do the same, I certainly found it deadly dull.
And pretentious.
The story has some basis in history. It takes place near the end of the reign of England's Queen Anne, around 1711-1713, during which time the War of Spanish Succession-the war between England and France that is mentioned on occasion-was drawing near its end. The Queen's husband, Prince George of Denmark, had died in 1708, after having gotten her pregnant 17 times - enough to justify switching romantic interest away from men for any woman. Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough, who had already managed to become the Queen's friend, and-at least in this movie-something more than that as well, has come to exert real influence over the Queen because of her willingness to play to the monarch's desire for affection from other women. As the movie opens, Abigail Hill, a distant relative of Sarah's, arrives at court with the hope of getting preferment there. She sees how Sarah receives favor from the Queen, and decides that she can play that game as well if it will allow her to advance at court. Lesbian intrigue follows.
The costumes are fine, there is some intriguing lighting, and early in the movie some different types of lenses provide unusual shots. The acting, to the extent that the women in these roles get to act, is all fine.
But, for me, this was a succession of too-often unexplained scenes and strange behavior that I found pretentious in the extreme. I can understand that, if they have to consume a steady diet of play-by-the-numbers action movies, film critics get excited over something different and not formulaic. But for me different and not predictable does not, in itself, produce a movie interesting enough to hold my attention for two hours. I found myself nodding off on occasion-and it was only the middle of the afternoon-because none of it held my interest.
Nor would I say that is movie strikes a blow for lesbians. The characters aren't interesting, so you don't really care about their relationships, which are presented as manipulative rather than romantic. The Queen never gets to say that the relationships she has with women are more fulfilling, or at least less stressful, than the marriage she had with Prince George.
I just didn't see why the director wanted to resurrect this element of history in this way.