The Favourite | Film Review

Hey Guys x

With the Golden Globes taking place last Sunday, 'Awards Season' is officially beginning, and I for one could not be more excited. I genuinely think this is my favourite time of year - forget Christmas and every other holiday, awards season is where it's at! And while I have no idea if this film will be nominated for an Oscar or not (though I suspect it might be) I thought it was the perfect movie to kick off the season, and the new year, with.

Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) is on the throne, and while she enjoys ruling, the day-to-day tasks are delegated to her close friend and lady-in-waiting, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), who is relied on by Queen Anne for almost everything. So when Lady Sarah's cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, in need of a job, Sarah takes pity on her, and allows her to help with some of the queen's duties. However, when Queen Anne begins to take a shine to Abigail, Lady Sarah is filled with jealousy and rage. But is Lady Sarah's paranoia just due to jealousy? Or is Abigail not as innocent as she seems?

I hope that didn't give too much away! I tried to keep it vague, but I wanted to explain it properly, as a lot of people dismiss a film when they see that it has a historical setting.

I really enjoyed this film. I actually liked it a lot more than I initially thought I would.

First of all, let's talk about the screenplay/script. I have no idea how much of what was said in the film was actually written down, but I think the film was brilliantly written. It was witty, intelligent, informative, and surprisingly, hilarious. I can't count the amount of times that the whole cinema was in hysterics while watching it, usually because of something Olivia Colman did, and that was so refreshing.

And then there's the acting. Of course, Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone were completely phenomenal in their roles, which rightfully earned them all Golden Globe nominations. But I also want to mention Nicholas Hoult, who was also completely amazing as Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford. He doesn't get mentioned enough when the film is spoken about, but his character is one of the best parts of the film.

Something that occurred to me while watching it was how amazing the score was. Scores aren't something I generally notice when watching a film unless I'm specifically looking out for it, but this score kind of hits you over the head. Especially if you see it in the cinema, the sound is so intense, and it kind of tells the story in and of itself, without any help from the actors. Listen out for this if you go and see it.

Overall, this is an amazing movie about love, friendship, jealousy, revenge and power wrapped into the always interesting package of royalty. I hope it gets nominated for more awards because it deserves to be greatly appreciated by film fans and critics alike.

8/10

Lou