The FavouriteThe difference between good and evil is whether it is power or love that brings us joy, and how we go about getting it. The Favourite is a historical drama and black comedy about how the affections of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) of Great Britain (circa the early 18th century) are pursued by two women. Defending the title of the queen's most favored companion is Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), whose sharp wit is matched only by her dominant personality. In the challenger's corner is her cousin, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), who seeks to reverse her sour fortunes by finding favor at court, clawing her way out of the mud through strategic power plays.
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The Favourite is based on events both true and rumored that took place during Queen Anne's reign, though audiences need not be history buffs to appreciate the unsubtle machinations employed by Sarah and Abigail to constantly undermine one another. Despite the source material, The Favourite doesn't presume to "tell it like it was", since all those concerned are long dead--to borrow a line from Barry Lyndon, "good or bad, handsome or ugly, rich or poor they are all equal now". Barry Lyndon could be considered a distant cousin to Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite--both films are period pieces that depict ruthless upward mobility alongside a satire of the nobility and gentry. Many comparisons have also been made between this film and All About Eve, especially concerning the deceptive and manipulative servility Abigail employs to secure her position as the eponymous "favourite" of Anne. The Favourite makes a point to establish Abigail as sympathetic from the start--she arrives covered in mud and filth, begging for employment from her unsympathetic cousin, following the first of many cruel pranks inflicted upon her by the resident scullery maids. She describes how her family fell from grace due to the crippling gambling debts of her father, who went so far as to prostitute her to a German after a card game at the age of fifteen. She shares this episode with Sarah, and later a revelation about being solicited by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (Nicholas Hoult)--the leader of the political party opposed to a war with France in progress--to betray her cousin's confidence. Sarah surmises--and verbalizes--that Abigail does this to ingratiate herself into her favor; this comes after she has already drawn upon what little sympathy Sarah has to pull her up from the lowest station at the palace and into being her personal maidservant. Sarah sees Abigail's intentions for what they really are, being an old hand at reading the intentions of schemers after having been surrounded by them at court--and more importantly, by being one herself.
Sarah is unquestionably the power behind the throne, often speaking on behalf of Anne, who is depicted alternately as a bloated fool or madwoman. As insinuated within the rumor-laden history of Queen Anne, Sarah, and Abigail, the Queen and her "favourite" are secretly lovers; Abigail discovers this explosive piece of information after unwittingly espying them from the upper landing in the library. This knowledge becomes a corrupting cornerstone for Abigail, as it gives her something to exploit to elevate her position at court by preying on Anne's feelings and desires. After Abigail deposes Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough doesn't take defeat lying down, and fights more fervently than ever for Anne's "love". The audience is always left guessing whether Sarah's feelings for the woman whom she befriended as children--after saving her from a bully--are true or whether she simply resents being outfoxed. Sarah and Anne's relationship is hinted at from the start, as well as Sarah's place in it. Sarah literally wears the "pants" in the relationship--almost all of her outfits have a male flair to them. She speaks directly and without delicacy to all--a behavior popularly assumed to be reserved for men in that era. Despite Anne being mentioned to be married, her husband is never seen; Sarah assumes this role, even to the point of adopting the level of sexism audiences might expect from a boorish husband by ordering and condescending to the Queen. None can say whether Sarah's motivations for befriending Anne were as self-serving as Abigail's are revealed to be--she simply appears to have more of a stomach for the job.
The Favourite is set almost exclusively within Queen Anne's palace, which--in spite of the vastness of it--always feels claustrophobic; many scenes are set in only a few locations, predominantly Anne's bedroom. The characters spend too much time indoors--especially Anne--and it has made them sick in the head. There is a persistent sense of madness--from the tonal incongruities in the dialogue to the paranoia and obsequiousness that dominates the court. One of the earliest scenes has the lords and ladies comically racing ducks for sport--maybe it happened, but it doesn't make it any less absurd from today's perspective. When Sarah and a courtier named Samuel Masham, 1st Baron Masham (Joe Alwyn) dance ostensibly for Anne's pleasure, their routine is deliberately bizarre, with elements that would look more at home in Napoleon Dynamite than a tale of British nobility. The language in The Favourite is decidedly out of its element, and is often filled with vicious obscenities; this is by design, as it reveals the poison running through the veins of a governing power thoroughly corrupted by hate and mistrust. Anne's madness becomes emblematic of the madness of her country--a word which takes on assorted uses and euphemisms in The Favourite. Abigail worms her way into Anne's heart first through applying an herbal poultice to her gout-ridden leg, but more importantly by showing affection to her seventeen pet rabbits--one for every child she could not successfully bear. Despite Anne's mood swings and petulance, she is presented as a woman constantly being exploited by sycophants. When she is in one of her emotional fits, she stumbles around her palace in a nightgown, residual flecks of vomit around her lips, crying out in existential anguish. Many comparisons could surely be made between the tragic implosion of this public icon--driven insane by emotional betrayal and heartbreak--and others like her, but one parallel that springs is the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson. There is the sense beneath all of Anne's tears and ineffectual indecisiveness that there was a woman whose agency in life was slowly whittled away by the daggers of those she called friends and more, carving off her power for themselves.
As Robert Harley begins his secret campaign to leverage Abigail for his political cause, he tells her that he doesn't want his perception at court to become "distorted". This word choice is key in The Favourite, since virtually everything here is just that. The film uses a predominance of wide-angled lenses, giving the world a warped and confused appearance--a mad realm where decadence reigns, and where showing any sign of weakness or tenderness is an invitation for abuse. Harley's proclamations that he wants Anne to sue for peace with France doesn't come from his love of country, but from his own political ambition instead. He and the other conniving power elite at the palace eagerly engage in depraved games, including throwing rotten fruit at one of his colleagues, who is naked except for his powdered wig. Anne's weak constitution isn't enough to deter her from gorging herself on sweets, leading to her regurgitating her delicacies into silver vases moments later. The perversions of the nobility trickle down into the rest of the nation; the only scene set outside the estate is in a filthy brothel, run by a woman who intends to make Sarah into a sex slave. Everyone in the film is horrible, though Anne is somewhat more sympathetic if only because she is visibly treated like a plump cow to suckle from by the throngs of opportunists surrounding her. The message here is that a corrupt government will invariably lead a nation into corruption as it fosters vice over virtue, greed over generosity, and hate over love.
Recommended for: Fans of a biting black comedy and period piece that borrows from the rumor-addled history of Queen Anne. Despite historical dramas about British royalty often comporting themselves with dignity and grace, The Favourite portrays its characters as "Game of Thrones"-level schemers, who trade vicious verbal barbs and derisive snorts without flinching.
Sarah is unquestionably the power behind the throne, often speaking on behalf of Anne, who is depicted alternately as a bloated fool or madwoman. As insinuated within the rumor-laden history of Queen Anne, Sarah, and Abigail, the Queen and her "favourite" are secretly lovers; Abigail discovers this explosive piece of information after unwittingly espying them from the upper landing in the library. This knowledge becomes a corrupting cornerstone for Abigail, as it gives her something to exploit to elevate her position at court by preying on Anne's feelings and desires. After Abigail deposes Sarah, the Duchess of Marlborough doesn't take defeat lying down, and fights more fervently than ever for Anne's "love". The audience is always left guessing whether Sarah's feelings for the woman whom she befriended as children--after saving her from a bully--are true or whether she simply resents being outfoxed. Sarah and Anne's relationship is hinted at from the start, as well as Sarah's place in it. Sarah literally wears the "pants" in the relationship--almost all of her outfits have a male flair to them. She speaks directly and without delicacy to all--a behavior popularly assumed to be reserved for men in that era. Despite Anne being mentioned to be married, her husband is never seen; Sarah assumes this role, even to the point of adopting the level of sexism audiences might expect from a boorish husband by ordering and condescending to the Queen. None can say whether Sarah's motivations for befriending Anne were as self-serving as Abigail's are revealed to be--she simply appears to have more of a stomach for the job.
The Favourite is set almost exclusively within Queen Anne's palace, which--in spite of the vastness of it--always feels claustrophobic; many scenes are set in only a few locations, predominantly Anne's bedroom. The characters spend too much time indoors--especially Anne--and it has made them sick in the head. There is a persistent sense of madness--from the tonal incongruities in the dialogue to the paranoia and obsequiousness that dominates the court. One of the earliest scenes has the lords and ladies comically racing ducks for sport--maybe it happened, but it doesn't make it any less absurd from today's perspective. When Sarah and a courtier named Samuel Masham, 1st Baron Masham (Joe Alwyn) dance ostensibly for Anne's pleasure, their routine is deliberately bizarre, with elements that would look more at home in Napoleon Dynamite than a tale of British nobility. The language in The Favourite is decidedly out of its element, and is often filled with vicious obscenities; this is by design, as it reveals the poison running through the veins of a governing power thoroughly corrupted by hate and mistrust. Anne's madness becomes emblematic of the madness of her country--a word which takes on assorted uses and euphemisms in The Favourite. Abigail worms her way into Anne's heart first through applying an herbal poultice to her gout-ridden leg, but more importantly by showing affection to her seventeen pet rabbits--one for every child she could not successfully bear. Despite Anne's mood swings and petulance, she is presented as a woman constantly being exploited by sycophants. When she is in one of her emotional fits, she stumbles around her palace in a nightgown, residual flecks of vomit around her lips, crying out in existential anguish. Many comparisons could surely be made between the tragic implosion of this public icon--driven insane by emotional betrayal and heartbreak--and others like her, but one parallel that springs is the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson. There is the sense beneath all of Anne's tears and ineffectual indecisiveness that there was a woman whose agency in life was slowly whittled away by the daggers of those she called friends and more, carving off her power for themselves.
As Robert Harley begins his secret campaign to leverage Abigail for his political cause, he tells her that he doesn't want his perception at court to become "distorted". This word choice is key in The Favourite, since virtually everything here is just that. The film uses a predominance of wide-angled lenses, giving the world a warped and confused appearance--a mad realm where decadence reigns, and where showing any sign of weakness or tenderness is an invitation for abuse. Harley's proclamations that he wants Anne to sue for peace with France doesn't come from his love of country, but from his own political ambition instead. He and the other conniving power elite at the palace eagerly engage in depraved games, including throwing rotten fruit at one of his colleagues, who is naked except for his powdered wig. Anne's weak constitution isn't enough to deter her from gorging herself on sweets, leading to her regurgitating her delicacies into silver vases moments later. The perversions of the nobility trickle down into the rest of the nation; the only scene set outside the estate is in a filthy brothel, run by a woman who intends to make Sarah into a sex slave. Everyone in the film is horrible, though Anne is somewhat more sympathetic if only because she is visibly treated like a plump cow to suckle from by the throngs of opportunists surrounding her. The message here is that a corrupt government will invariably lead a nation into corruption as it fosters vice over virtue, greed over generosity, and hate over love.
Recommended for: Fans of a biting black comedy and period piece that borrows from the rumor-addled history of Queen Anne. Despite historical dramas about British royalty often comporting themselves with dignity and grace, The Favourite portrays its characters as "Game of Thrones"-level schemers, who trade vicious verbal barbs and derisive snorts without flinching.