The Favourite

Content warning for strong sexual content, nudity and language. It is recommended that parents consult commonsensemedia.org before bringing children under 17 to this film.

“Greek iconoclast Yorgos Lanthimos (Alps, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer) continues his dissection of the human condition with this blackly humorous period piece set in the sumptuous court of Queen Anne (as played, hilariously, by a rouge-cheeked Olivia Colman) in 18th-century England. As the semi-mad queen frivolously spends her days conducting duck races even while her country is in the midst of war with France, her most trusted advisor, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (a wickedly good Rachel Weisz), and the Duchess’ new servant (Emma Stone) themselves go to war over just who will secure the role of queen’s favourite and, by proxy, exert control over the whole of England…

Lanthimos, characteristically, turns the tropes of the powdered-wig period drama upside down, playing what would be taken deadly seriously by other directors for laughs, and delivering comic set-pieces with a solemnly straight face. Drawing comparisons to both Barry Lyndon, for Robbie Ryan’s (American Honey; I, Daniel Blake) gorgeous cinematography, and Marie Antoinette, for the way it reinvents the period piece for a modern audience, The Favourite continues Lanthimos’ ongoing quest to uphold the Modernist creed and ‘make it new!’” - VIFF

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Olivia Colman won the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role.