The Favourite (2018)

Set in early-18th-century England during the costly War of the Spanish Succession, The Favourite is a darkly comic, period power play that follows three fiercely complicated women: the frail, petulant Queen Anne; her domineering confidante Lady Sarah Churchill, who effectively runs the country; and Abigail, a scrappy newcomer who sees the palace as her route back to status. When Abigail charms her way into Sarah’s household and then into the queen’s favor, a ruthless and often absurd battle for intimacy, influence and survival begins. Watchers can expect razor-sharp performances—especially Olivia Colman’s vulnerable, volatile Anne and the mercilessly ambitious dueling turns from Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone—framed by Yorgos Lanthimos’s off-kilter direction. The film mixes biting, often grotesque humor with genuine pathos; its palace scenes feel claustrophobic and intimate, punctuated by startling visual choices, lush period costumes, and a physical, sometimes ugly kind of comedy. Politics, sex, jealousy and manipulation are all weapons in the silent, escalating war for the queen’s attention. The Favourite is as much about loneliness and power as it is about court intrigue: it’s funny, uncomfortable, and emotionally sharp, swinging between scalpel-like satire and bruising melancholy. Viewers should expect to be entertained, unsettled and moved in equal measure by a visually distinctive, performance-driven story of ambition and betrayal.

Actors: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Runtime: 119 min

Genres: Biography, Comedy, Drama

7.1 /10 91 /100 7.5 /10 7.9 /10