Review of Spencer (2021) by Markhreviews — 18 Nov 2021

Director Pablo Larrain (the “Jackie” biopic) and Writer Steven Knight (“Locke,” “Serenity,” “Eastern Promises”) offer fair warning. In the opening moments of “Spencer,” a vanity card tells us this will be “a fable from a true tragedy.” We are fully aware that this portrait of Princess Diana will not be a by-the-numbers recitation of historical facts. But there is scant preparation for a film that unfolds much more like a fever dream.

All of the action takes place in December, 1991, at Sandringham, the estate where the royal family spends Christmas each year. Diana and Prince Charles are eleven years into their marriage, with their breathlessly-followed separation occurring exactly one year later.

Some of the film is clearly reality-based. Diana’s bulimia, which is depicted quite graphically, is well-known. It’s also accurate that all royal gatherings are highly structured events, down to the specific outfit changes required of Diana for each meal. (There’s a rack of dresses with labels indicating when each piece of clothing must be worn.) The ever-presence of Camilla Parker-Bowles is similarly reality-based. In this case, the creative team has Charles giving identical pearl necklaces to Diana and Parker-Bowles as Christmas gifts. (The giving of identical gifts did happen on another occasion, but involved different jewelry.).

Some of the film is clearly imagined. Knight’s script delves deep into Diana’s psyche. What emerges is a series of hallucinations, culminating with imaginary conversations between Diana and Anne Boleyn, with whom she identifies. It all comes together to form a searing depiction of a woman in psychic agony. This tone of unrest, dread and impending doom is accentuated by the powerful score of Jonny Greenwood (“Phantom Thread,” several Radiohead music videos). Greenwood’s work underscores Diana’s anxiety, fear and desperation as he moves from discordant jazz to simple piano melodies to other musical idioms, all without a single false note.

What doesn’t work is the royal family as anti-hero. Diana’s single interaction with the Queen is cordial and instructive (the Queen observes that all the members of the royal family are “just currency” for an insatiable press). Diana’s major conversation with Prince Charles, while devoid of warmth, is not overtly threatening. The “oppressive” demands of the royal family as a group seem to center on the request that Diana show up on time for dinner. While it’s starkly evident that Diana is consistently being controlled and monitored, the dreaded “other” that is clearly crushing Diana never comes into clear focus.

What makes this film a must-see is Kristen Stewart. With “On the Road,” “The Clouds of Sils Maria” and various other serious films, Stewart has demonstrated her intention to become a versatile, multi-faceted actress. “Spencer” reflects the culmination of all that hard work and development. While showing an uncanny ability to reflect Diana’s mannerisms, gait and facial expressions, Stewart moves well beyond mimicry to owning and inhabiting this role in a way that’s powerfully mesmerizing.

After viewing “Spencer,” my feelings about Princess Diana were essentially unchanged. I still wish I had deeper insight into an iconic figure who was publicly kind, thoughtful and accessible while privately disintegrating.