THE FAVOURITE REVIEW

*MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS*

Recently, Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos, has become a successful director in Hollywood and has become well-known for creating unique features that are both thought-provoking and compelling. After the releases of The Lobster in 2015 and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer in 2017, Lanthimos has deemed himself one of the most versatile directors. His latest feature, The Favourite, further establishes that.

In the early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne's ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail Masham (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen's companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way.

Prior to watching The Favourite, I hadn't seen any of Lanthimos' previous features so I had no idea what to expect, fortunately, I was pleasantly surprised. However, because of Lanthimos' unique filming style and the strong sexual content, I think that many viewers may put off watching this, however, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. While Lanthimos has become successful in Hollywood, the average viewer may not recognise him or be familiar with his previous features which is why I think The Favourite is worth a watch as it's original.

The strongest aspect of The Favourite is the performances of the three leading ladies, Colman, Stone and Weisz. While, ironically, it's difficult to have a favourite performance, I think that Colman was the most impressive as this was her first leading role in a feature film. Many audiences in the U.K. will know her from the several television series she has appeared in, including the gripping dark drama, ‘Broadchurch’ alongside David Tennant. She then made an appearance in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s mystery novel, Murder On The Orient Express, as Hildegarde Schmidt, however, it was a small role with limited screen time. As Queen Anne, she gives her strongest performance yet and is currently nominated for a Golden Globe. Her portrayal of Queen Anne provides most of the laughs as she randomly shouts and cries. She even has several memorable lines of dialogue. I wouldn’t be surprised if Colman received her first Academy Award nomination. Stone’s filmography mainly consists of comedies, however, after appearing in Damien Chazelle’s musical, La La Land, she won her first Academy Award. In my opinion, she is yet to disappoint and that couldn’t be more true of her performance in The Favourite. In the beginning, her character, Abigail is a maid, however, she wins over Queen Anne and the two form a close bond, much to the annoyance of Lady Sarah. This leads to a rivalry between Abigail and Sarah as they each try to win over Queen Anne’s affections and become her ‘favourite’. As Lady Sarah, Weisz exudes a cool regality. Like Colman, both Stone and Weisz are nominated at the Golden Globes for their supporting roles. If it wasn’t for the performances given by its three leading ladies, The Favourite would be dull.

The majority of The Favourite focuses on the back-and-forth rivalry between Lady Sarah and Abigail as they each try to win over Queen Anne's affections. The feature also dabbles in Parliamentary politics, with Lady Sarah being known as a Whig sympathiser and Abigail favouring the Tories. Because of this, both characters have powerful allies. Sarah's husband, Lord Marlborough (Mark Gatiss), is the commander of British armies in the War of the Spanish Succession and the Earl of Godolphin (James Smith) is the Lord Treasurer. Abigail is backed by the most powerful Tories, including Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult), Earl of Oxford. While the struggles between the Whigs and Tories are never too far in the background, The Favourite is at its best when it focuses on the moves and counter moves of Sarah and Abigail to retain the Queen's approval.

What I was most surprised to discover about The Favourite was how hard it was to take seriously. It can be described as a dark comedy with tongue in cheek humour. Most of the laughs come from memorable and witty pieces of dialogue and there are several amusing scenes. However, those going in expecting a laugh-a-minute comedy may be disappointed.

Most historical dramas can be boring and sometimes even a chore to watch, however, because of Lanthimos' unique directing style, there's never a dull moment in The Favourite. It handles the lesbian love triangle between Queen Anne, Lady Sarah and Abigail really well. Lanthimos stated that he wanted to treat his female characters as human beings and didn't want it to become an issue or make a big deal of it. He also elaborated on the positive effect the #MeToo movement had on the film and said that, because of the prevalent male gaze in cinema, women are portrayed as housewives, girlfriends and that his contribution was to try and show them as complex and wonderful and horrific as they are, like other human beings. I think he has succeeded as the three female characters are the most interesting individuals in The Favourite. Women have become stereotyped in many films to be the love interest for the main character and are, sometimes, seen as perfect, however, I find it refreshing when films capture a woman's imperfections and perceives them as human beings. This is true of The Favourite, as, while the female characters aren't likable, they are fun and interesting to watch.

The Favourite sees director Yorgos Lanthimos at his best yet and continues to establish himself as one of the most versatile directors. The strongest aspect of the film comes from the film's three leading ladies with each of them impressing in their roles.

8/10