The Favourite Review | NYFF 2018
R: For strong sexual content, nudity and language
Fox Searchlight Pictures, Scarlet Films, Element Pictures, Arcana, Film4 Productions, Waypoint Entertainment
2 Hrs
Dir: Yorgos Lanthimos | Writers: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Cast: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn, Mark Gatiss, James Smith, Jenny Rainsford
Yorgos Lanthimos is back and weirder than ever. He has done Greek films (I mean, it’s his native country), American movies (“Killing of a Sacred Deer”), and now a British movie. Yes, it is still in the realm of weird, but “The Favourite” has to be his funniest film to date.
Early 18th century. England is at war with the French. Nevertheless, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving. A frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne's ill health and mercurial temper. When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah. Sarah takes Abigail under her wing and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots. As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen's companion. Their burgeoning friendship gives her a chance to fulfill her ambitions and she will not let woman, man, politics or rabbit stand in her way.
THE GOOD
Yorgos went comedy again, but the jokes are not as subtle as his previous films. This is based on real people but, instead of making your average period piece drama, Lanthimos said, “Fuck it. Let’s aim for funny.” The film boldly says, “Isn’t royal patriarchy fucking stupid?” and is truly a dark romantic comedy reminiscent of Stephen Frears’ “Florence Foster Jenkins”, which I thought would be just another period drama but ended up being a hysterical comedy with hard-hitting dialogue and an exquisite filmmaking style.
Yorgos is a genius when it comes to dark interior lighting. One of my favorite aspects of “Killing of a Sacred Deer” was how the dark lighting matched the tone of the film. The same is present here even though this has a lighter tone, but it’s still essentially a dark comedy. To be honest, it has somewhat of a Wes Anderson aesthetic, from how the characters are written to how the direction is stylized, especially the excessive amount of pans. I’m not talking whip pans, but slow pans while using wide-angle lens shots where we go from one side of the room to another just to see how large each location is. Take it from me: if you’re going to read any other reviews of “The Favourite” you’re bound to see a recurring appearance of Yorgos Lanthimos’ usage of wide-angle lens shots in the film and, believe me when I say, it’s really cleverly used. Not only is the production design incredible, but the cinematography expertly shows it off whenever it can.
Yorgos is able to keep his cast grounded if things get too weird or silly. “The Favourite” boldly gets cartoonish in the style of “Looney Tunes” where, not only does the dialogue deliver laugh-out-loud moments, but you also get a solid dose of physical humor. This is the closest thing we’ll ever get to a proper “Alice in Wonderland” adaptation because everyone's mad here. All of the characters are nonsensical and savage in accounts of what they say, but they're consistently characterized well.
Also, one name you’re going to hear a lot in the next few months is Olivia Coleman because she is a queen. Not only does she portray Anne, Queen of Great Britain, but her performance itself slays. You’ll find yourself in a pure “Broad City” moment going:
The Queen is one of the only characters you sympathize with in this movie and is one of the only fully dimensional characters. Out of all the characters, Queen Anne is the most well-written and developed.
While the rest of the cast exhibits great range in their performances, every other character has more of a personality than complexity.
Nicholas Hoult - Asshole
Rachel Weisz - Sociopath
Emma Stone - Mysterious
But, the Queen is different. Once you know what she’s all about and the realities and the depressing events she’s gone through, you feel for her. Colman delivers such a captivating performance that makes you emotional at times. The Queen went through so much shit in her past that it’s added a load of pressure to her persona, but she’s also a bit mentally unstable. She dominates every second she is on screen. I don’t even know if they’re going to consider her for Best Actress or Best Supporting because this is her movie. The film is centered on a love triangle and she is in the center, so is it a supporting performance or a lead role?
Stone started off her career in comedies such as “Superbad” and “Easy A” and then, over the course of time, delved into dramatic roles. She has expressed a great deal of range throughout her career and this is her ultimate role. I mean, she already got an Oscar for singing, dancing, and being dramatic in one of the best musicals ever made and no one can tell me otherwise (especially you Fran… ESPECIALLY YOU!) But here she has to deliver both comedy and drama in order to survive in the castle. While her character Abigail is the central protagonist, there still remains a nice amount of mystery to her.
From the moment Abigail arrives, you’re already asking yourself, “Okay, what is she up to?” She spends so much time befriending the Queen that it slowly becomes seduction, which then sparks a love triangle between her, the Queen, and Sarah. Oh yeah, THERE IS A QUEER LOVE TRIANGLE IN THIS MOVIE! But you begin to question other things such as, “Does she have a natural attraction to the Queen or is there some sort of ulterior motive?” While it doesn’t fully express why Abigail behaves the way she does, her actions keep you engaged, especially with how perfectly Stone portrays her. There is little information about Sarah’s cousin Abigail in real life and the film follows stays true to this. Nobody knows what she does and she is treated like a maid at first, but she rises up the social ranks. She arrives on a horse (which maids don’t usually do) so the entire castle is confused and it's hilarious. She delivers her dialogue powerfully when she’s being funny, and then when Abigail has to make it out of certain situations, she easily puts on tears and evokes emotions. Stone is acting as a character who has to act to manipulate others to do her bidding.
THE BAD
While other Lathmonos features get too weird by the climax, this film does something that might be bothersome but goes cartoonish. I mentioned it earlier, but seriously... go in knowing this is a comedy rather than a period piece drama. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll be treated to one of the funniest comedies of the year.
THE RENDY
While she’s married to Daniel Craig in real life, it’s not surprising for Rachel Weisz to play characters who are queer, but she gave us a double whammy in 2018. She played a queer woman in “Disobedience” this year and “The Favourite” makes two. I’m telling you, Weisz is giving the gays what they want and I AM HERE FOR IT!
LAST STATEMENT
“The Favourite” is another powerful addition to Yorgos Lanthimos’ arsenal as he delivers one of the funniest dark comedies of the year with amazing performances courtesy of Emma Stone and Olivia Colman.
Rating: 4/5 | 89%
Super Scene: Where’s my book?
