The Favourite is set to become your favorite film of the year

AFI Fest Review: The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest puts Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz in a historical comedy with a barbarous tongue you won’t be able to get over.

When I reviewed The Killing of a Sacred Deer last year, I mentioned that Grecian director, Yorgos Lanthimos, makes movies I should like, but just don’t. His esoteric and inside knowledge of history, mythology, and fantasy are a dream of those looking for deeper meaning, and yet his cold, deadpan delivery often leaves the humor adrift in the wind. Or maybe I’ve been waiting for the right movie to get me on the Lanthimos bandwagon and it’s finally arrived. The Favourite is a tart examination of power dynamics among women that should be consumed by those who love their humor dark and their history complex.

Set in the 18th-century court of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), the haves and the have nots have a gulf that divides them. The sickly Queen Anne spends her days eating cake and taking care of her 17 rabbits (meant to stand in for the 17 children she’s lost), only fraternizing with her closest confidante and love, Lady Sarah Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). When Sarah’s cousin, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) arrives, desperate to find her way back into luxury, the two women are forced to go head-to-head for the Queen’s fickle affections.

Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in the film THE FAVOURITE. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Fiona Crombie’s production design is Oscar-worthy, creating a breathtakingly opulent environment of rugs and candlelight that hides the devious competition and intrigues within. Powdered wigs abound, makeup is heavy, and the costumes — created by costuming legend Sandy Powell — create an atmosphere where everything looks beautiful, but that’s merely containing the poison within every character. Without belaboring the politics, it’s evident that Queen Anne is merely a figurehead in her own court, only appearing at meetings to vouch for Lady Marlborough’s plans, or just sending Sarah in her stead.

Played in overwrought hysterics by Colman, Queen Anne is a sad woman who just wants love. As she petulantly screams at a footman not to look at her, Colman delineates between the child-woman and the monarch who has been given this position of ultimate authority. Her bunny rabbit babies do little to intrigue Lady Sarah, but their relationship is one built on equality. The two tenderheartedly call each other Mrs. Freeman and Mrs. Morley, removing barriers of queen and subject. Their romantic relationship is hidden from prying eyes but never denigrated on-screen, nor is Queen Anne’s eventual transition to Abigail.

Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman in the film THE FAVOURITE. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Rachel Weisz is the perfect companion for Colman’s Queen Anne. As Lady Marlborough, Weisz owns Sandy Powell’s costumes, perfectly rocking the androgyny in a way that reminds the audience she’s a woman with the heart of a man. Weisz’s Lady Marlborough is a woman not lacking in sensitivity. She genuinely cares for Queen Anne and loves her enough to tell her “sometimes you look like a badger.” With a quick smile and a sparkle in her eye, Weisz showcases the best in power dynamics – how one has to flatter and cajole while delivering a terrible blow.

Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz in the film THE FAVOURITE. Photo by Yorgos Lanthimos. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Her All About Eve-esque relationship with Emma Stone’s Abigail is at the crux of The Favourite. A woman deemed “too kind for your own good,” Stone’s Abigail lives up to the adage of the meek inheriting the Earth. Thrown out of a carriage and into the mud, Abigail is down for anything. She’s lost her position and has been debased because of her femininity, sold by her father to pay off gambling debts, so enmeshing herself with Queen Anne is a subversive act. Too often in historical dramas like these the woman must play up to a king, so watching Lady Marlborough and Abigail undermine each other for the affections of a woman works wonderfully.

Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone in the film THE FAVOURITE. Photo by Atsushi Nishijima. © 2018 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation All Rights Reserved

Abigail and Lady Marlborough are the smartest women in the room, so it’s understandable that their male co-stars are presented as bumbling and inefficient. Nicholas Hoult and Joe Alwyn make the most of their foppish characters, Harley and Samuel Masham. Lanthimos makes this a woman’s world, first and foremost. Hoult’s Harley understands that and plays the buffoon, using Abigail as a go-between and generally acting out an 18th-century Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf with the two sniping at each other. Conversely, Alwyn’s Masham, in any other period drama, would be the dashing leading man trying to court Abigail. Instead, he’s little more than a boy trying to get laid, and is treated as an impediment.

The Favourite is a fascinating exploration of power dynamics and the negotiations between women, while possessing a deft and witty script you’ll want to consume again. Stone, Weisz, and Colman leave you fighting for a favorite amongst them.