You have no idea how much I wanted to love this film. First off, the trailer is dynamite. Then recognize the cast, filled with some of my favorite -sorry, “favourite”- people: Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult. Leap to the part where it’s directed by the amber horse of ambiguity, the demigod of disturbing, the unique Greek, Yorgos Lanthimos. Do you know how many people can claim they’ve seen three full Yorgos Lanthimos films? It’s like me and his mom. Throw in recent critical acclaim and a Golden Globe Best Pic nom and Woohoo! Strap me in and pass the popcorn!
woohoo … boohoo
It’s not that The Favourite is a bad film; I’d probably love if it came with no hype. But this is the world we live in – if an overhyped film doesn’t deliver, you feel cheated. And I feel cheated.
One of the oddest biopics of the year is The Favourite, which tells the story of devious rival cousins serving at the foot of daft, feeble, and easily manipulated Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). As the story opens, Lady Sarah (Weisz) is The Favourite of the Queen. There isn’t anybody else. The direction enjoys what appears to be a healthy and sexual (?!) relationship between the two women. It gives away a little of Lady Sarah’s hold on the government by being able to control Anne’s Trump-like insecurities. Indeed, the camera has a field day watching Anne yell at minions for doing exactly their job and no more.
Enter Abigail (Stone). Being Sarah’s cousin, she is allowed access to the castle even though she’s been stripped of her title … and she’s covered in shit. Little prank there. Isn’t it so funny when the masturbating carriage-master pinches your ass, thus throwing you off-balance as you exit … and funnier still how jealous servants send you right up for your audience with the Queen on the guise that you’re headed to a cleaning station of some sort. I certainly can’t fault the now standard dark humor of any Lanthimos film.
Do we feel sorry for Abigail? No? How about when the servants aren’t satisfied with the initial humiliation and greet Abigail’s new career with Grimm fairytale stepmother-like cruelty including a lye scalding? No? How about when her own cousin orders Abigail’s beating for acting out of turn? No? How about when Queen’s political opposition leader Lord Harley (Hoult) pushes her off an embankment for fun? Geez, Abigail, have you ever considered prostitution? It’s gotta be better than this.
However, one salve trick to sooth the Queen’s aching sores and a few well-chosen words, and suddenly Abigail is a rival to be The Favourite. Was it a mistake for Sarah to pity her cousin? Oh, yeah. Big mistake. Then we get a chance to suddenly feel sorry for Lady Sarah, who is a bitch-on-cobblestones. Before long, this film sadly devolves into a contest to see which woman can be the more devious gold digger. I wish there were more to The Favourite than that, but there really isn’t. All the political intrigue and secondary moments amount to which woman is the better Queen-maker, a plot that 1) gets old quickly and 2) leaves us without a heroine. I want to like one of these three women and, yet, for all their wonderful personality, I do not.
The Favourite is shot almost entirely among castle interiors using more fish-eye lens than I thought was legally allowed. Do you need a permit to fish-eye lens? This film must have had five. Like every Yorgos Lanthimos flm, I couldn’t tell immediately afterwards if what I’d seen was brilliant or hogwash. I’m claiming both. There were certainly moments of royalty and early 18th century noble life that you ain’t gonna find in other films. The unique Lanthimos POV and wicked sense of humor shine through constantly. But then we’re left with an empty shell where the protagonist should be, an empty drive where a plot should be, and an emplty credit roll where an ending should be. I won’t mock others for loving The Favourite; it’s certainly a unique experience and will find a sheltered home in a well-to-do family, but that family ain’t gonna be me.
Two Ladies of a similar mind
Find the crown a distinctive grind
While hardly endearean
It’s fairly Shakespearean
Can these kin be any less kind?
Rated R, 119 Minutes
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writer: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Genre: Sibling, er, cousin rivalry
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Historians, I think
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People in need of a rooting interest
