The trailer for The Favourite is misleading, stringing together all the fun bits to create the impression of a light-hearted drawing-room comedy, whereas the film itself was something else. Not that it wasn't good, mind you; aside from its obscure overlong ending, it was ok.
In the early 1700s, Abigail (Emma Stone), a young former aristocrat whose station in life has fallen, applies for work in the court of Queen Anne. She begins in the scullery, but soon becomes a lady-in-waiting to the powerful Lady Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). The domineering Sarah, Queen Anne's lover & trusted advisor, more often than not sits in for the ailing Anne & in effect rules in her stead. Meanwhile, Abigail, endears herself to Anne by soothing her gouty leg with a rustic herbal remedy apparently unknown at court.
By the time Sarah - belatedly recognizing a potential rival - dismisses Abigail, the queen is sufficiently beguiled to add Abigail to her own retinue. Abigail soon contrives to supplant Sarah as the queen's favorite. When Sarah haughtily insists that the queen dismiss Abigail, Anne answers "I don't want to. I like it when she puts her tongue inside me."
What makes this film worth watching at all is the outstanding performance of Olivia Colman as Queen Anne. Ailing, cranky, vulnerable, imperious, cosseted, frivolous & browbeaten, Anne is a goodhearted queen with the very best of intentions, but far too muddleheaded to fathom affairs of state. When - after gifting her beloved Sarah with a palace - she is told "This is a monstrous extravagance . . . we are at war," Anne replies "We've won." When told that the war is not yet over, she is taken quite aback. "Oh! I did not know that."
What Favourite lacks, it seems to me, is an ending - tho not for lack of trying. The telling moment when Abigail, now well ensconced as the queen's spoiled favorite, casually squashes one of Anne's beloved rabbits with her foot - not fatally, just meanly enough to demonstrate her sense of power & her potential cruelty - could have been the ending. We're shown how quickly the underdog we originally rooted for, once risen to power, becomes the new oppressor. Stop there.
But no, the rabbit's cries wake the by now partially paralyzed queen, who, horrified, tries to rise from her bed, falls & then struggles to her feet as Abigail rushes to her. "Rub my leg" Anne commands coldly & Abigail reluctantly kneels to obey. When she suggests that Anne should lie down, she is told "You shall speak when asked to." Claiming to feel dizzy & needing to "hold onto something," she grabs Abigail's hair & presses down on her head while the kneeling Abigail struggles to support Anne's weight while still rubbing her gouty leg. Her distress, both physical & mental, is clear on her face, as is the slow realization that she is no more than a helpless rabbit herself. That too would have been a good place to stop.
To belabor the point tho, we watch the two women sway together in this position, their faces now superimposed on one another for an interminable two minutes until finally the rabbits are gradually superimposed on both of them till they're blotted out. So what's that all about then? We're all just helpless rabbits? Is that some kind of revelation? Shoulda quit while they were ahead.
In the early 1700s, Abigail (Emma Stone), a young former aristocrat whose station in life has fallen, applies for work in the court of Queen Anne. She begins in the scullery, but soon becomes a lady-in-waiting to the powerful Lady Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz). The domineering Sarah, Queen Anne's lover & trusted advisor, more often than not sits in for the ailing Anne & in effect rules in her stead. Meanwhile, Abigail, endears herself to Anne by soothing her gouty leg with a rustic herbal remedy apparently unknown at court.
By the time Sarah - belatedly recognizing a potential rival - dismisses Abigail, the queen is sufficiently beguiled to add Abigail to her own retinue. Abigail soon contrives to supplant Sarah as the queen's favorite. When Sarah haughtily insists that the queen dismiss Abigail, Anne answers "I don't want to. I like it when she puts her tongue inside me."
What makes this film worth watching at all is the outstanding performance of Olivia Colman as Queen Anne. Ailing, cranky, vulnerable, imperious, cosseted, frivolous & browbeaten, Anne is a goodhearted queen with the very best of intentions, but far too muddleheaded to fathom affairs of state. When - after gifting her beloved Sarah with a palace - she is told "This is a monstrous extravagance . . . we are at war," Anne replies "We've won." When told that the war is not yet over, she is taken quite aback. "Oh! I did not know that."
What Favourite lacks, it seems to me, is an ending - tho not for lack of trying. The telling moment when Abigail, now well ensconced as the queen's spoiled favorite, casually squashes one of Anne's beloved rabbits with her foot - not fatally, just meanly enough to demonstrate her sense of power & her potential cruelty - could have been the ending. We're shown how quickly the underdog we originally rooted for, once risen to power, becomes the new oppressor. Stop there.
But no, the rabbit's cries wake the by now partially paralyzed queen, who, horrified, tries to rise from her bed, falls & then struggles to her feet as Abigail rushes to her. "Rub my leg" Anne commands coldly & Abigail reluctantly kneels to obey. When she suggests that Anne should lie down, she is told "You shall speak when asked to." Claiming to feel dizzy & needing to "hold onto something," she grabs Abigail's hair & presses down on her head while the kneeling Abigail struggles to support Anne's weight while still rubbing her gouty leg. Her distress, both physical & mental, is clear on her face, as is the slow realization that she is no more than a helpless rabbit herself. That too would have been a good place to stop.
To belabor the point tho, we watch the two women sway together in this position, their faces now superimposed on one another for an interminable two minutes until finally the rabbits are gradually superimposed on both of them till they're blotted out. So what's that all about then? We're all just helpless rabbits? Is that some kind of revelation? Shoulda quit while they were ahead.