Very entertaining movie. It is not really a period piece, considering that it takes many liberties depicting Queen Anne's reign(for once, her husband was alive in the years this movie takes place).
But historical accuracy is not the aim of this movie. The central theme is the dichotomy between Sarah and Abigail. Harsh versus flattering, loyal versus mercenary.
The story is well told, even if it takes a while to really get going. The three female leads carry the whole movie brilliantly, with the male characters being relegated to almost comical roles. While the pace is slow, it gives time to get to know more the protagonists. The ending was a bit disappointing. I felt like the movie was setting up for a big climax and it didn't come. I mean, I get the ending (Abigail has done a lot of work to climb the ladder and grab power, but in the end she is still basically a prostitute, just in a prettier setting), but maybe it could have been better.
The cinematography is overall good, if a bit underlit for my taste. The shots in the dark, with just the light from a candle, were really beautiful. I didn't like the use of fisheye lenses, they didn't add anything and felt just weird to me.
The music was a bit meh. Not bad, in some place really well suited for the scene, but in others just annoying and a bit pretentious.
The cast was spectacular. Emma Stone portrays her character evolution amazingly (I went from rooting for her at the start to hoping for her fall from grace), Rachel Weisz plays the conniving Sarah very believably and Olivia Colman is a brilliant Queen Anne, weird but very emphatic. I also really liked Nicholas Hoult, his portray of Lord Harley was very entertaining.
In the end, it is a very enjoyable movie. The almost two hours of runtime are not too heavy to bear, thanks to a great mix of drama and humor that keeps the mood light. It is visually stunning, from the framing of the shots to the costumes. Great performances from the cast all around.
Review by Enrico CamillieriBlockedParent2019-05-28T09:22:48Z
Very entertaining movie. It is not really a period piece, considering that it takes many liberties depicting Queen Anne's reign(for once, her husband was alive in the years this movie takes place).
But historical accuracy is not the aim of this movie. The central theme is the dichotomy between Sarah and Abigail. Harsh versus flattering, loyal versus mercenary.
The story is well told, even if it takes a while to really get going. The three female leads carry the whole movie brilliantly, with the male characters being relegated to almost comical roles. While the pace is slow, it gives time to get to know more the protagonists. The ending was a bit disappointing. I felt like the movie was setting up for a big climax and it didn't come. I mean, I get the ending (Abigail has done a lot of work to climb the ladder and grab power, but in the end she is still basically a prostitute, just in a prettier setting), but maybe it could have been better.
The cinematography is overall good, if a bit underlit for my taste. The shots in the dark, with just the light from a candle, were really beautiful. I didn't like the use of fisheye lenses, they didn't add anything and felt just weird to me.
The music was a bit meh. Not bad, in some place really well suited for the scene, but in others just annoying and a bit pretentious.
The cast was spectacular. Emma Stone portrays her character evolution amazingly (I went from rooting for her at the start to hoping for her fall from grace), Rachel Weisz plays the conniving Sarah very believably and Olivia Colman is a brilliant Queen Anne, weird but very emphatic. I also really liked Nicholas Hoult, his portray of Lord Harley was very entertaining.
In the end, it is a very enjoyable movie. The almost two hours of runtime are not too heavy to bear, thanks to a great mix of drama and humor that keeps the mood light. It is visually stunning, from the framing of the shots to the costumes. Great performances from the cast all around.
7.5/10