Review of The Favourite (2018) by Markhreviews — 24 Dec 2018

I went to the screening of “The Favourite” wanting and expecting to love it. I just can’t. There’s a lot to like about this film – the cast and the dialogue are fabulous. And while the crackling dialogue portrayed in the film’s trailer is delivered fully throughout the film, be aware that this is no comedy. In fact, the theme being developed by Director Yorgos Lanthimos is just too bleak for many moviegoers and most human beings. “The Favourite” advances the thesis that all humans are venal, petty and self-absorbed. Genuine kindness is rare. Expecting people to help others, absent some sort of self-interest, is a fool’s errand. The film doesn’t just posit that people’s negative traits tend to overwhelm their better instincts; it advances the premise that we live in a world devoid of genuine goodness. It’s all a little hard to bear. However, “The Favourite” is clearly the most accessible and upbeat of Lanthimos’ recent films. In “The Lobster” (2015), single people are required to spend time at The Hotel, where they must either find a compatible mate within 45 days or be transformed into the animal of their choosing. His 2017 film “The Killing of the Sacred Deer” had some critics believing the film was a masterful meditation on cruelty, while others described the film itself as cruel.

“The Favourite” centers on the reign of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), who ascended the British throne in 1702. In no small part because she knows frighteningly little about affairs of state, Anne is strongly influenced by Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), Duchess of Marlborough. Churchill gives her cousin, Abigail Masham (Emma Stone), a menial job in the royal household after Abigail’s family has fallen from grace. Only too late does Sarah recognize that Abigail is a more-than-worthy rival for the queen’s affections. While the film is hard to bear, it’s not hard to watch. Colman, Weisz (both alumnae of “The Lobster”) and Stone are at the top of their games, making the viewing experience completely worthwhile, even while the film feels confusing in a few places, soul-crushing in several. For American audiences, Colman is a punch line – in the best possible sense: she has spent many years becoming an overnight sensation. Known in the UK primarily for her TV work, Colman has a long string of impressive credentials, most recently in “The Night Manager” (2016), a quirky stepmother in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s TV adaptation of “Fleabag” (2016) and a sublime performance in “Broadchurch” (2013-2017). In the UK, Colman is so ubiquitous she even appears in the current British Airways safety video. Weisz and Stone have both generated awards buzz of their own, but this is Colman’s show. She demands full attention despite portraying a character prone to self-pity and cloying neediness who is completely out of her element when it comes to behaving like a responsible head of state. (If her face were orange, viewers might see an analogy in contemporary events.).

“The Favourite” is least effective as a narrative to be taken literally, much more worthwhile as a meditation on the human condition that encourages debate and self-reflection. This film is powerful, necessary and important; it’s just not a lot of fun along the way.