Skewer-sharp drama with a sapphic twist
The Favourite
Cert TBC, 120 min
★★★★★ Dir Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, James Smith, Mark Gatiss
Imagine, if you will, a British government whose approach to the most pressing affairs of state was shaped entirely by ludicrous internecine grudges. That’s the backdrop to The Favourite, the bracing new comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos, which reimagines the reign of Queen Anne – and specifically her close but fractious relationship with two of her ladies-in-waiting, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill – as an absurdist courtly farce with a lesbian twist. The fun begins in the early 18th century, with Abigail (an impeccably accented Emma Stone) arriving at the royal household in the hope that her rather more well-to-do cousin Sarah (Rachel Weisz), the Duchess of Marlborough and a hugely influential figure at court, might be able to find her some work. A menial role in the kitchens is found – but this clever, ambitious young woman has bigger plans. Noting the beneficial effects of Sarah’s peculiarly close relationship with Queen Anne herself, who is played by Olivia Colman – a second regal role for the actress, alongside her appearance as Queen Elizabeth II in the forthcoming series of The Crown
– Abigail decides to wheedle her way into the household’s inner circle herself, and does so by preparing a poultice of herbs to soothe the Queen’s gout riddled leg. Then, hiding in the library one night, she watches Anne and Sarah sharing what they believe to be a private, intimate moment. (This is an invention of screenwriters Deborah Davis and Tony Mcnamara – unsurprisingly, there is no evidence of consummation – though letters written by Anne to Sarah show the two women had an extremely passionate relationship.)
Now equipped with this seismic gossip, and aware of the Queen’s predilection for female company after hours, she sees an opportunity to scramble up the social heap. With the War of the Spanish Succession raging in Europe and unrest over taxes growing at home, Sarah and Abigail’s machinations leave foreign and domestic policy swaying and reeling like a punch-drunk boxer in the 12th round.
A royal costume drama might seem like an odd next step for Lanthimos, but the Greek director of Dogtooth, The Lobster and last year’s
The Killing of a Sacred Deer is well-versed in the comic potential of potted purgatories that tick along to their own insane rule set. And The
Favourite vigorously realises that potential: this is a skewer-sharp and scabrously funny film, stuffed with quotable deadpan exchanges, often punctuated by that now-trademark Lanthimos camera manoeuvre, the wide-angle whip pan that seems to ask “now what?” (Some of the best lines are reused as chapter headings, including “This Mud Stinks” and “I Dreamt I Stabbed You In The Eye”.)
Weisz and Colman are both familiar with the beat, having worked with Lanthimos before in The Lobster. But Stone proves a fast acclimatiser, and the trio immediately gel as a comic unit, bouncing off one another at jagged angles in a range of spectacular Sandy Powell-designed gowns. A fine supporting cast fills things out nicely, with The Thick of It’s
James Smith as Sidney Godolphin, Lord Treasurer, Mark Gatiss as Lord Marlborough, Sarah’s husband, and Nicholas Hoult as the foppish Robert Harley, leader of the Whigs, who sees a potential ally in Abigail as he attempts to unseat Godolphin and worm his own way into power.
There is perhaps a slight air of sexlessness to the central love triangle: all three women become so consumed by treachery and bitchiness for their own sake that it is not always apparent that actual feelings, in addition to social standing, are at stake. But the treachery stings, the bitchiness pricks. The film is wily, warped and ticklish – history viewed through cracked glass.