A grand guignol of self-interest and sabotage

Rating: 9/10 (13 January 2019)

"The Favourite" retells the later life of Queen Anne, focusing on her relationship with her close confidant Sarah Churchill, and the arrival of Sarah's cousin, Abigail, whose presence ignites a battle of wits that tests the limits of moral decency.
I've noticed the reviews of this film on IMDb seem to alternate between abject hatred and "you Americans just wouldn't understand/don't know British history and therefore won't get it." The fact is that, despite the film being aesthetically high-brow, it does not demand its audience have written a dissertation on 18th-century British history to comprehend or enjoy it. What the film ultimately represents is a battle of wits between two women; one, a longtime companion of the queen who has a lengthy history with her (Rachel Weisz), and the other a disgraced ex-lady-cum-social climber who will stop at nothing to fulfill her own security (Emma Stone). The triangulated narrative is as old as time, but what really sells the film is the witty writing and stellar performances from Weisz, Stone, and Olivia Colman, who portrays the queen.
What I found remarkable about it, among numerous things, was that it seems to cross genres nearly undetected. At times it's wickedly humorous, at others poignant, and sometimes it's even utterly suspenseful. The stakes run high for all of the characters, and both Stone and Weisz play off of one another remarkably well. Colman is also alternately endearing and petulant in her portrayal of Anne, who is in the center of the mess. All of this is punctuated by a phenomenal musical score that alternates between lush and baroque, and something so nervy it sounds as though it belongs in a horror film. The cinematography is incredible, and the costumes and setting is truly something to behold.
I think the only real downfall to the film is its ending, which feels outwardly unresolved, though it thematically makes sense in regard to Abigail's character arc--does she not end where she began? All in all a very well-plotted film that works as a historical drama as well as it does an off-kilter, Machiavellian display of feminine grand guignol. 9/10.