The Favourite

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2019)

Queen Anne (Coleman) is ill and ineffective and so Lady Sarah (Weitz) essentially manages queen and country. That is until Abigail, a lady on hard times but with ambitions, arrives at the palace to compete with Sarah for the top spot.
It is just so refreshing to see something so original, that is so near to a bizarre art house movie but remains so hugely accessible to us simple folk. The camera work and lighting is deeply strange but somehow seems right, the script is wonderful, with the humour jet black and laugh out loud funny and the supporting cast particularly Hoult all over the top but great fun. Key to all this though is the 3 leads. Weitz's role as the power behind the throne is the least flamboyant of the 3 but she is great in it demonstrating a determined and scary strength throughout. Stone's character is the real cornerstone of the plot and she's clearly having a whale of a time conning her way to the top. Finally there is Coleman as the queen, a women of power and a wrecked life, unable to rule anything. Coleman mixes sweetness and madness effortlessly whilst at the same time giving us most of big laughs - a superb performance.
This is not for everyone and not for maiden aunts as they say - 'Victoria' it ain't, several people walked out of the screening I went to after 20 minutes leaving the rest of us to soak it all up and enjoy the razor sharp wit.