Critics have fallen in love with Yorgos Lanthimos since The Lobster. Personally, I have conflicted feelings about the man. The talent is obviously there, his feel for sound and direction is impressive and gives his movies a sense of urgency and propulsion; however, his emotionless speech is jarring to me and feels like a weird parallel universe. The Favourite gives away script writing duties to other people so Lanthimos can direct the heck out of this story, which he does with aplomb. Throw in some Weisz, some Stone, some Colman, and some British society, and you’ve got yourself a fun send up of elite classes of yesteryear.
Lanthimos takes us to 1700s England, during the reign of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). Anne has a handmaiden, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), who is world astute and helps Anne with all aspects of her life. ALL aspects. Even affairs of state, where the British/French war has met strict opposition from Harley (Nicholas Hoult) and his party. During this fraught time, Abigail (Emma Stone), Sarah’s cousin, arrives at the castle having lost her title and everything associated with that. Sarah gets Abigail a job, where the young lady works her way into Anne’s good graces, potentially threatening Sarah’s standing.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s directorial style varies movie to movie, showing he clearly adapts depending on the material he is presented with. Killing of a Sacred Deer was deathly still and painted in grays and blandness, This movie feels like it is shot at times through a keyhole on a smartphone. There’s lots of shots that feel wideshot, then get slimmer as you get further away from the background image. This type of shooting helps service the story being told, where lies and secrets are treated like currency and take precedent over almost everything else and makes you feel privy to something you shouldn’t be seeing. The sound is also really good at setting a feeling, using the period piece stuff to transport your mind to the era or this repetitive string 2-noter to give a chilling and captivating feeling. The set design is also glamorous and hilariously is juxtaposed by the vulgar speak and suffering going on outside the castle, with Nicholas Hoult’s character the best example of this irony.
Lanthimos probably had an easy job directing because he has 3 stellar women running his story. The crux of the story is Abigail vs. Sarah for Anne’s good graces. What’s interesting is how different the two women are at portraying someone whom Anne might like. Weisz has a chilly, honest demeanor, clearly having affection for the queen but also in private willing to stand up and confront her. In Weisz’s hands, Sarah has jerkish tendencies, but isn’t simply one thing. Conversely, Emma Stone is portraying a venus flytrap, the opposite of Weisz. Calm and empathetic on the outside, Stone is pure venom on the inside, using all her cunning to reclaim what she sees to be her true status in life. Essentially, both women are the same woman, just using different methods to get their end. Trapped in the middle of this is Olivia Colman’s Anne, a vapid woman who’s been warped by wealth and power. Colman makes this seeming monster at times a nervous wreck of indecision, with unbearable sadness revealed in just a few lines of dialogue about her rabbits. The scheming between Abigail and Sarah happens through any means necessary. In the bedroom? War strategy? Duck shooting? Doesn’t matter, the war between the two finds its way everywhere, with Anne trying to figure out which of her helpers truly loves her.
The Favourite is less serious, more fun Oscar bait, and for that I am grateful. This movie would see the pretension of that awards program and focus on the dress/tuxedo search and point out how dumb that is. I mean, if they could do break dancing at an English ball, there’s not much else Yorgos Lanthimos is afraid to get away with!