THE FAVOURITE

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

119, R

Screenwriter: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara

Cast: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn.

 

2018, on screen just like in politics, was the year that sisters were doing it for themselves, with a encouraging number of good movies with women as main characters: A Star Is Born, Becoming Astrid, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, The Hate U Give, and Mary, Queen of Scots, to name a few. Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite fits right in, set in Queen Anne’s 17th century British court. The Queen’s a little bit barmy, doting on her 17 pet rabbits, even as intrigue swirls around her. Adding spice to the power plays, there’s a love triangle between the Queen (Olivia Colman), the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz), and the Duchess’ ambitious cousin (Emma Stone).

“A Restoration comedy filtered through this director’s modern sensibilities – witty, profane, sexually explicit, improper in the extreme, a comedy of manners without any manners at all.”- Bob Mondello, NPR.