A darkly humorous spin on the period drama

Rating: 9/10 (6 January 2019)

With Olivia Colman set to follow on from Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth in the third season of The Crown, it seems a satisfying coincidence that Yorgos Lanthimos' latest film The Favourite sees the actress take on the role of another monarch. The Crown may be the dictionary definition of period drama, but The Favourite is a very different affair, a tantalising twist on what often promises to be a dull sub-genre.
Here, Colman stars as Anne, the last Stuart queen "stalked by tragedy", ravaged by gout and depression, with her pet rabbits her only solace. She has passed on the keys of power to her closest confidant and secret lover, Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), but all is turned on its head with the arrival of Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) a once noblewoman whose family has fallen on hard times. As Abigail surprisingly gains the favour of the Queen, so begins a ruthless battle that plays out before our eyes in a particularly captivating power struggle between the three women.
The Favourite is an enthralling film; Lady Sarah and Abigail turn loyalty into an increasingly vicious blood sport, making for a narrative littered with gratifying double-crossing, carnal intensity and stylish brutality, all accompanied by an almost illusionary sense of madness. It can only be defined as a tragicomedy, subtly hilarious yet hiding timely subtext that is delightfully ambiguous. The lines between love and deception are expertly blurred in a film that takes no prisoners in its uproarious execution. There is more deliberation in the overblown final act, however, that feels lengthy and distinctly less focused than the rest of the film.
The movie finds its greatest strength in its stellar cast, led by Colman, Stone and Weisz. Colman is outstanding as Anne, hilariously petulant and childlike, reminiscent of Miranda Richardson's Queenie in Blackadder. There's a blunt imperiousness to Colman's performance that carries the film through with black humour. Beyond this, however, the scenes of greatest emotional resonance are those that show the more tragic side of Anne, as a woman who has lost seventeen children ("Some were born in blood, some without breath and some were with me a very brief time") and has never recovered from the trauma. Colman breezes through these harsher scenes that cut surprisingly deep and help to give the film a greater purpose.
Rachel Weisz is the epitome of calculated steeliness as Lady Sarah and Emma Stone is pitch perfect in her first period role as the opportunistic and marvellously Machiavellian Abigail. Nicholas Hoult's flamboyant Leader of the Opposition leads several foppish male roles, but these lie clearly in the peripheral; Yorgos Lanthimos makes apparent that the film's sole focus is its women, all of whom are callous, yet vulnerable, but all quite brilliant in different ways.
The Favourite is beautifully designed, lavish costumes by Sandy Powell and a regal set giving the film all the expected grandeur of a period drama. The film's more salacious side, however, is shown in Robbie Ryan's absurdist cinematography which, whilst occasionally pretentious, gives a haunting contemporary spin. I was less of a fan of the wide-angled bend shots, as well as the film's soundtrack (from Handel to the itchy modernism of Anna Meredith), which felt invasive and ceaseless.
Here, Yorgos Lanthimos has struck a fine chord. The Favourite is a wonderfully unusual and unsettling film that is at points gratuitous, but generally audacious and exciting. Spellbinding performances and an intriguing story make this not one to miss out on.