Risque Art Film That Delivers

Rating: 8/10 (10 August 2019)

Set in early 18th-century England and loosely based on historical events, the story examines the relationship between two cousins. Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Masham, who later became Baroness Masham, vying to be Court favourites of Queen Anne.
I know nothing about the historical significance any of these very real people played, but the film is loosely based on their stories so I don't think it's necessary to be completely knowledgeable. I can say however with certainty that this film was still fantastic and let me tell you why. Immediately the camerawork fascinated me. Whoever the cinematographer was on this film (Robbie Ryan apparently) implemented various ways to capture each shot. He uses a fisheye lense, various corner shots, whip pans and long shots. It's very impressive and choosing to do all of this with natural lighting? Literally what I strive to be as a filmmaker.
This all is aided by the set design being so extravagant, regal and gorgeous looking. It all unfolds before your eyes like a storybook and I just wanted to stare at it for long periods of time. Bravo to the director Yorgos Lanthimos on these areas alone, it definitely stood out to me in 2018! So moving onto the acting. It's fantastic all around, but Olivia Colman specifically got an Oscar for a reason. Her character, the Queen Anne is such a miserable character. Constantly ill, not wanting to handle her various responsibilities, keeping the rabbits as surrogate children which in turn is basically a constant reminder of her despair. Even with her power and stature, she's become frivolous and completely given up. Not an easy character to play and she does it amazingly!
Our other two main actors Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are pretty on par with each other throughout the film. Nicholas Hoult however surprised me, his character Robert Harley stood out more than I anticipated. He's quite good in the film and I haven't seen much being said about his performance. Concerning the overall plot, it did keep my attention though I didn't really know where else it was going to go. I knew we had this continuous fight for the Queen's affection and deciding on what to do with the current war. Both of these are interesting, but when you look at it as a completed movie there wasn't a lot that happens.
Seeing the bunny abuse upset me deeply, though of course that didn't take away from the film. Just added a hatred for Emma Stone's character Abigail. I found myself talking to the screen and saying "yeah Abigail don't get too comfortable in your position!" The ending makes sense overall, but also leaves much to be desired. I actually thought the ending would involve the Queen succumbing to her illness and dying. That would've been interesting to see play out and considering she had no apparent successors. That's my own thought though, overall the film was still leagues above others released during the same year.