Con’s Score: 4.5 pineapple slices
Giving a period piece to a director like Yiorgos Lanthimos, known for his absurd sense of humour, is a risky choice. In the case of The Favourite it’s an inspired one.
We’re taken into the palace of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman) who is very close to her assistant Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weiss). She has a sharp tongue and a lot of influence on the Queen.
Along comes Abigail (Emma Stone) who once was a lady but is now homeless and scrounging for work. Lady Sarah takes her under her wing, but Abi is looking for bigger things and is good with her tongue. A game of manipulation that will affect England’s war with French is underway.
Lanthimos brings his sense of the absurd to turn this into a biting farce of English aristocracy and how women play politics. The dancing scene is hilarious and takes this out of a plain period drama, which seems to have upset fans. Aussie Tony McNamara has co-written the script where the dialogue is profane and the humour is sharp. Rachel Weiss has some of the best lines and relishes them. The supporting cast of men are all good, but pale in comparison.
Lanthimos is visually true to the period and has gone for a rich palette. The sets are heavy with colour and the costumes are lavish. It jars with the way he’s jamming the genre down it’s own throat.
It’s not often that you have such three strong leads playing off each other. It’s a treat to watch. Olivia Coleman is the one at the forefront of the award nominations as she lifts the Queen beyond a nit wit, and gives her an empathetic emotional desperation. Rachel Weiss gives one of her best performances and Stone is as watchable as ever. The characters might not be likeable but I loved their honesty.
The ending is an open one that will cause disagreement about what comes next. I think another act could have followed, but I don’t mind when they’re left so open they create debate.
This isn’t the sort of period drama that will have you reaching for the history books. It’s one that takes you under their immense undergarments and into their ambition to give you a bitter bite and laugh. It’s about time.
Con Nats – On The Screen
