I don't even know where to start on this movie. The cinematography, the plot, the costumes, the soundtrack and the acting are all the best I've seen in a LONG time. This is one of the greatest movies I have ever watched. I could elaborate, but it would take up all day. And as a young, gay woman, thank you for making a lesbian couple that wasn't just for the male gaze, where one didn't die off and where the story wasn't just about them coming out / discrimination. Yes to more movies of people who just happen to be gay and that's not the point of the story! Cheers!
This is just the right amount of weird with a good amount of humor. Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone all give fantastic performances. It's hard to say which one was the best because they all play so well off each other. Nicholas Hoult does a pretty good job too. The cinematography was great. I love the wide angle shots and the way the camera moves is wonderful. The score, the sets, the costumes are all top notch. This is definitely Yorgos Lanthimos's best movie so far and I think he is one of the more interesting directors working today. It's even better after a rewatch.
Rachel Weisz's BDE really jumps out and dragged me
[8.5/10] There are times when the cinematography from The Favourite’s director, Yorgos Lanthimos, and its director of photography, Robbie Ryan, is a bit distracting. At times, Lanthimos and Ryan use a wide angle lens in a way that emphasizes scope within an enclosed space, or holds his subjects at a distance despite how the traditional grammar of film might suggest bringing the audience closer. To some extent this serves the film’s themes of perceived distance between people in intimate situations and false intimacy in what are perceived to be close ones, but at times it also feels more like a tic than an organic piece of the presentation.
But the best way that Lanthimos and Ryan, as well as editor Yorgos Mavropsaridis break the usual rules of cinematography, is in their long reaction shots. More than once, when the usual editing rhythms would dictate cutting between the two people in a conversation, or the event and the observer, The Favourite lingers on the face of the person whose reaction is most important instead. Lanthimos and company let their actors tell the story, of epiphanies grand, small, opportunistic, and tragic, giving the audience time to study their faces and see the emotional consequences of what’s unfolded rather than be told about them.
That’s the great strength of The Favourite, a movie that is as much about the inner lives of the three women at its center as it is about the power-hungry game of royal capture the flag at its center. The film tells the story of Queen Anne, an English monarch beset by loss and reclusive uncertainty; Lady Sarah Marlborough, the Queen’s friend, confidante, and de facto political representative; and Abigail Masham, Lady Marlborough’s cousin who’s brought in as a scullery maid but has designs to climb the ladder out of her humble circumstances.
Ostensibly, the film is centered on who has de facto control over the throne and holds the power of decision with respect to the ongoing war with France. On the one hand is Lady Marlborough, allied with her husband, the head of the country’s armed forces, and the prime minister, who wants to continue the war. And on the other is Abigail, who after currying favor with the Queen over a gout treatment, begins receiving overtures from the opposition leader, Lord Harley, who wants to sue for peace and end the costly war. As both women vie for Queen Anne’s ear, and various blackmail schemes and alliances form in the background, England’s immediate future seems to hang in the balance.
But The Favourite mostly uses that backdrop as stakes and setting for the more personal scheme to scheme combat between Sarah and Abigail, and the personal feelings and failings and distress of the Queen, who’s more interested in companionship and wanting to be loved and attended to than in the business of state. It’s a movie about sexuality, both in how alternative lifestyles are presented in a period setting, but also how physical affection is weaponized and commodified as another treat on offer. It is chiefly a psychological film, which uses its twisty plots and power grabs to explicate the mental state of its stars rather than for the sake of God and Country.
It’s also a damn funny film. Bawdy as all hell, with schemes that play as much for their darkly comic potential as they do for craftiness or malevolence, the film offers a dry wit and a brand of gallows humor that keeps the proceeding livened and laugh-worthy even amid its headier themes. The dialogue in particular is a delight, with creative insults, loopy exchanges, and lovely turns of phrase. The Favourite also captures the lunacy of the noblemen, amid duck races, fruit fights, and forest-side wrestling matches that underscore the absurdity of how the fate of the nation depends on the likes of these idiots.
And yet, at the same time, The Favourite is a profoundly tragic film, about the turning away of tough but genuine love in favor of the flattering but false. It’s centered around a woman who’s massaged and manipulated at least a bit by everyone she encounters, who is clearly unfit to the rule, but who’s in that state after unfathomable losses and physical hardships that help explain why diversion and delight require such a hold over her to keep the distressed and disturbed at bay.
The film toys with its audience a little, trying to earn your sympathies for the comparatively powerless Abigail, who has lost her good name due to her father’s craven shiftlessness, and overcomes her cousin’s efforts to keep her at heel to make her own way. At the same time, it initially paints Lady Marlborough as the bad guy, seemingly mollifying the Queen in a practiced but begrudging fashion, whilst knocking her down when necessary, so as to exercise the real power of the throne behind closed doors.
But the cinch of The Favourite is its telegraphed but still potent flip. For however harsh and practiced in the arts of palatial subterfuge Sarah is, the film reveals her genuine affections for Anne, and her earnest beliefs that her actions, however peculiar or occasionally manipulative they may seem to an outside observer, are for the best, for both the Queen and the England. Abigail, on the other hand, starts from a much less enviable position, but wins the Queen’s favor and gains her council purely on mercenary terms, without a care in the world for the person she’s twisting to get there or the political alliances that help grease the wheels of her rise to power and ouster of her rival.
The Favourite’s biggest moments are the realizations of these things: the moments when newcomers discover how things work at the palace, where dalliances have begun and ended, when the worm has turned and who you’re stuck with after it happens. More than once, Lanthimos and his crew allow Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone to carry the emotional weight of the film with those extended moments in the frame, where these epiphanies and resignations and shocks are allowed to wash over them until they wash over the audience too.
With that tool, The Favourite draws its dichotomy: between the practical, persuasive, and occasionally harsh, all done in the name of true belief and even love, and the ingratiating, conniving, and easy answers, offered in the name of predatory and nest-feathering nihilism. The import of that realization, and the shocks and building blocks that lead to it, are left to bloom on the screen, as words from other scenes echo, the special lenses and quirks fall away, and we see our heroes, villains, and victims come to terms with the unfortunate, unfixable messes they’ve made, effected, or allowed.
I am enchanted by the movie. Emma Stone is superlative. Interesting the proposal of 3 strong female characters as the ones in the movie and the total absence of men. I strongly raconmend the vision of the film.
Oh, this was f*cking fabulous.
9/10
it is a huge waste of time. Explains one or two interesting things about the queen. The storyline isn't interesting at all. Too many sex scenes and nudity, I'm not purist but some scenes got me thinking "what is this for?". As some others users said, the movie isn't engaging. There is a substantial lack of content, it looks like one of those movies that tries to fool the viewer by providing luxurious backgrounds and frivolous side stories.
Decided to watch it after Olivia Colman’s Oscar win after hearing mixed reviews and sadly I just didn’t see what all the fuss was about. Lots of weird camera angles, annoying music, Queen Anne wailing every now and again for what reason I still haven’t managed to fathom and a plot which to me was boring. Very underwhelmed given the hype during Awards season..
Captivatingly weird and funny. Excellent acting, makeup, cinematography and fantastic costumes. Had me intrigued from the first minute. I loved how different this movie was.
The cinematography is beautiful and the performances are perfect. Rachel Weisz was amazing as always, she deserved an Oscar just for existing. However, it's a boring movie with a non-engaging story. It's a pity.
I found the first 45 minutes of dialogue very difficult to understand. The movie is entertaining, but I would not watch it again and It had one of the worst endings ever.
Olivia Colman's performance was great .. everything else was just "okay"
Pretentious, with an obnoxious track and almost unbelievably unpleasant characters. Amazing performance by the Queen, though.
Superb acting by the three principals - Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone. This is a decidedly unflattering account of Queen Anne's reign frivolously disregarding timelines (Queen Anne's husband was alive during much of this movie's fractured timeline) and embracing gossip (about Anne's lesbian predilection that is disavowed by most historians). The rise and fall of Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hills influence as favourites, although a reality, had other credible political motivations. Much of this movie paints a picture of an ineffectual culture of fops and frivolities in court life, whereas the politics and the principles of the time were a lot more serious and calculating, as was Queen Anne's legacy (the United Kingdom was birthed under Anne's reign). But, as a fanciful history, there is great humour and tragedy in this movie and the acting is truly superb. I give this film an 8 (great) out of 10. [Costume Comedic Drama]
Great performances by Olivia Coleman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz. Good storytelling and good plot with support from great talent, kept my attention. Yorgos Lanthimos is becoming one of my FAVOURITE directors.
The funniest thing in this movie is that whenever someone of the court plays music, or dances, or sings, they are just a little bit bad at it. They all have bad timing.
Which makes sense, why would these politicians be good at such artistic endeavours?
Girls get it done. This is Lanthimos’ attempt at a fun dark comedy/satire in a period drama setting. Killing of a Sacred Deer embraced some Kubrickisms with its cinematography, here Lanthimos tips his hat to Barry Lyndon in every creative department. At the center we have three complex characters; one queen and two different kind of parasites. Weisz and Stone might seem like similar characters on the surface, but if you pay attention to the food that’s served when each of them is in charge, you’ll quickly understand the difference between their characters (very nice detail, Yorgos). Still, they’re all simultaneously sympathetic and selfish b*tches in their own way, so that leads to an interesting power dynamic between the three of them. The cast is amazing, smaller roles included. Stone gets Lanthimos’ quirk like no other actress, Colman’s voice and body language make every joke at least 50% more hilarious and Weisz displays an incredible amount of range. Technically the film is immaculate, the cinematography and lighting are incredible and once again raise Yorgos’ already very high bar. I wish he was more consistent with his use of fisheye lenses though. I get why they’re there but their use is almost too sporadic here, so much so that it becomes distracting when they’re used. I also think the film is generally too predictable to be truly amazing. In particular when it comes to the first two acts, you pretty much know what the character arcs are going to be. Lots of funny scenes with great, unexpected moments, but the most interesting things start to happen during the third act. The note that it decides on, though, is unquestionably compelling and comments interestingly on the themes of unconditional love and leadership.
7.5/10
The Favourite, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, is a film that follows the rivalry between two cousins, Lady Sarah and Abigail, for the affections and ear of Queen Anne in the early 1700s. While the film boasts a strong cast and visually pleasing costume design, the story falls short with a lack of tension and an over-reliance on absurdity. The performances by Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, and Emma Stone are noteworthy, but their characters are not particularly likable. Overall, The Favourite fails to live up to the expectations set by Lanthimos' previous films, The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
The Favourite, dirigida por Yorgos Lanthimos, es una película que sigue la rivalidad entre dos primas, Lady Sarah y Abigail, por el cariño y el oído de la reina Ana a principios del siglo XVIII. Si bien la película cuenta con un elenco fuerte y un diseño de vestuario visualmente agradable, la historia se queda corta con una falta de tensión y una excesiva confianza en el absurdo. Las actuaciones de Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz y Emma Stone son notables, pero sus personajes no son particularmente agradables. En general, The Favourite no cumple con las expectativas establecidas por las películas anteriores de Lanthimos, The Lobster y The Killing of a Sacred Deer.
Fans of Yorgos Lanthimos will love it
A savage morality play, a camp comedy of manners, a Baroque tragedy, an allegorical study of the corruptive nature of power – it's all of these and yet none of them. On the one hand, it's too long, the plot too threadbare, and the metaphors and allegories too ill defined. On the other, the acting is flawless, it looks amazing, the first half is very, very funny, and the end is very, very dark, with the last shot one of the most haunting/disturbing images I've seen in a long time.
For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/BFot7
There was a lot I liked about this, but I didn't like how it ended. Felt quite abrupt.
Great performances, simple and unpleasant plot. Can't claim that I felt entertained or enlightened at any given time.
I’m not too sure what just happened but:
Abigail is the baddest bitch
Olivia Colman can do no wrong
Rich people are fucking weird
Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone star in the incredibly dull and ugly period drama The Favourite. The story follows two cousins in the royal court as they vie for the affections of Queen Anne, each manipulating her to their own ends. The filmmakers admit upfront that they don’t care about historical accuracy, and are re-imagining the people and events. But worse than that are the bizarre directing choices; using distorted camera angles randomly for no apparent reason. Weisz and Stone both give strong performances, but they’re playing dislikable characters (cheating, conniving bitches, though not in a fun way). Still, some of the dark humor and slapstick works, and the sets and costumes are incredibly well-done. Yet overall The Favourite is an extremely boring film that’s poorly made.
Everything is good expect story line is bit boring... Had to leave movie half way
Not my favourite film from the director - The Killing Of a Sacred Deer holds that spot I think - but still a deliciously dark comedy that is as cold and dispassionate as the other films served to us by Lanthimos. Colman deserved her Oscar, but the surrounding cast all put in sterling work here.
making is like, wow & acting, what to say, you all know it's incredible
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
Great movie, standing proud on three great actresses.
I'm still not sure about Lanthimos's actual skills as a director: he sure has a good eye for framing, manages to find good casts (though usually everyone is kept on low energy - something that gladly doesn't happen this time), and picks interesting stories... but he never sticks a landing for me.
I found the last third of the movie much less solid, and what was even the point of that final scene?
This movie has the ugliest cinematography ever. What the hell?! The performances are extraordinary, but the story? What a mess.
The movie features great performances, gorgeous costumes and beautiful sets. But the story is awful, the characters loathsome, it has incredibly annoying music, as well as some of the ugliest camera angles. The many sexual and nude scenes were also off-putting. Much pretentiousness, little substance.
A terrible waste of time
A truly bizarre film about Queen Anne and those who served her that borders on the absurd to great comedic effect.
The cinematography is very slick, although the frequent use of panning shots with fisheye lenses is slightly dizzying.
The aesthetics are fitting for the period, with some interesting use of typography throughout.
There are some great performances of the rather larger-than-life characters.
It takes some time for the story to really get going, but that does present an opportunity to get to know the characters at the start before a multi-layered narrative kicks in with a number of twists and turns.
In short, The Favourite is an enjoyable film with a rather unique style.
one of the best final shots in cinema
Fast paced, yet dense with content. Olivia Colman is having the time of her life hamming it up and it shows! Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz were a powerhouse duo together. Granted, the ending left me feeling empty, but on reflection, that was the point. While this film doesnt strike as close of a chord as Poor THings, this is still a fun romp of a period drama thats witty, brooding, and tense all at once.
Great movie, and Olivia Colman! "Look at me! How dare you? close your eyes"
I barely paid attention tbh
I found it interesting that in the beginning, I was very much on Abigail’s side. Sarah was always too forceful, too manipulative for me to like her much, although I did get to peek behind her eyes as well, and I can understand her.
Toward the end however, I was much more propelled into Anne’s point of view, torn away, ans estranged from Abigail. Anne, vegetating with what seems to have been stroke after stroke. Nobody really only cares for her. She’s the puppet of her country, the parliament and the nobility.
In short: living at court only seems to have been superficially fun and satisfying.
"You look like a badger."
First of all, this movie looks freakin amazing; the cinematography mixed with the captivating camerawork, the lighting, the beautiful costumes and the overwhelmingly detailed set is perfection, there's always something to look at. It's all so inciting that I bet the actors didn't need much to get into character. Stone, Colman and Weisz all delivered equally amazing performances. Very interesting characters and dynamics. Excellent well-placed comedy. Love the score.
The story is very slice of life and for a while there's no hook but as soon as the scheming and the backstabbing starts it's entertaining to the very end. The runtime flew right by. I'm a bit puzzled by how "normal" this movie is compared to the usual Lanthimos weirdness, I was searching/begging for that the whole runtime. Still turned out to be a great fairly normal period drama.
The ending felt like karma being rightfully served to all three characters to me. It doesn't end well for any of them. That's what you all get for being manipulative power freaks!
Gay period pieces are doing so much for me right now. Everyone was brilliant.
A healthy amount of mindfuck.
very weird movie but amusing for some reason
A grotesque and visceral period drama about two ambitious, scheming women pulling the strings behind the throne. The atmosphere is just too captivating to resist. It stays away from the glamour of Hollywood's costume dramas but still manages to be visually gorgeous and fashionably extravagant, even while dragging its characters into the mud. Wide-angle lenses often move across massive rooms and hallways to deform spaces and create a surreal, almost claustrophobic mood. The power play between the two leads is spiced up by witty dialogues and a general sense of quirkiness. Although the film stays engaging throughout, the ending might feel a little lackluster.
"You smell like a ninety-six year old French whore's vajuju."
Imagine Barry Lyndon, but more funnier and gayer.
I've seen this movie a few days ago and when reflecting back at certain scenes I still chuckle.
Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz are great as always, but Nicholas Hoult and Olivia Colman are both absolutely terrific.
Everything from a technical stand point is masterful. Yorgos Lanthimos has yet to make a bad movie or even an average one.
One of the best of 2018.
A pair of disingenuous young aspirants vie over Queen Anne's favor amidst the pomp and presumption of 18th century England. Sarah, the stand-offish, incumbent chief of staff, brusquely runs the country while her queen deals with depression, near-madness and a nasty case of the gout. Abigail, a disgraced former upper-class lady who stumbles into the palace smelling of dung and desperation, uses a delicate, sensitive touch to sway the monarch's opinion from the harsher methods of her rival. This pair launches a string of increasingly spiteful schemes and manipulations, always aiming to boost their own standing at the expense of the other, and even the queen herself isn't above such games. A vivid display of willpower, gamesmanship and raw nastiness masked under the guise of civility.
Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone are both excellent as the dueling ladies, but I found the experienced, versatile Olivia Colman's turn as Queen Anne most impressive. Nuanced and complex, her performance transforms a rather frail, tragic figure into something larger, something damaged but still formidable. A Best Actress nomination well-earned.
The camerawork sometimes grows over-ambitious (many early shots use a distracting wide-angle lens that feels out of place) and the ending is a bit of a head-scratcher, but otherwise it's a well-balanced, deliciously mean-spirited battle of wits.
This film about the decadent and matriarchal English court in the 18th century owes much, if not plagiarism, to the aesthetics, photography and rhythm of Peter Greenway's films.
Finally was able to watch this movie. I have wanted to see it even before Olivia Colman got her Oscar for the role of Queen Anne. And I must say I was not disappointed but on the other hand also not that impressed by the movie. For sure it was great acting and the cinematography was very unique and interesting. The storyline was good but the ending was kinda disappointing.
This film has an awesome feel right from the start. It borrows a bit from a lot of films - Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Heathers, maybe even a little Gladiator (from the political scenes, not the violence) - but it really is unlike any of those films. While on the surface it is a period piece it is first and foremost a dark comedy. The three leads are fantastic and the supporting actors are also fantastic. About two thirds through the film I thought it had surpassed Cold War as the movie of the year. The last third was good.... just not as good as the rest of the film. The film gets darker towards the end and the final scene is a real departure from the rest of the movie. After chewing on the final scene for a few days I think I did not realize who (and what) the film was really about.
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Great Great Great show .. with very deeep story in Dark comedy drama ... really #OliviaColman your great pravoooo and what i can say about #EmmaStone i love u girle ... and sure no one can denie your beauty face #RachelWeisz #TheFavourite
Anything Lanthimos puts out is a must watch now. If all period dramas had this type of script I'd be far more inclined to watch them. There was something of 'Phantom Thread' about it. I'm a huge Olivia Colman fan but I think Emma Stone slightly upstaged her in this. Costumes great, photography great (loved the fish eye type shots), dialogue brilliant, and plot - fiendishly savage.
An odd, amusing and captivating movie with a stellar performance from Olivia (we love you darling!) that reminds me of the films of Peter Greenaway, and that's a good thing. "Must the duck be here?" Watch and smile... 7/10
I should probably preface this with the fact that I'm not traditionally a fan of Yorgos Lanthimos movies. Neither The Lobster nor The Killing of a Sacred Deer made much of a positive impact on me.
That having been said,y this is significantly more accessibly than his past movies - perhaps because it's not his script. The direction, cinematography, and cast are amazing.
The movie is very funny, but I ultimately walked away from it with the feeling that I was supposed to grasp some deeper meaning... and I just didn't. Perhaps that's a commentary on the frivolity of the Royal Court - or it just means I'm scoring this 7/10 because I didn't get the parts that would make it a 10/10.
Filme bastante pretencioso que esta meramente de relleno en la categoria de Mejor Pelicula en los Oscares, actuaciones decentes de Olivia Coleman y Rachel Weisz que para mi, no son tan extraordinariamente sorprendentes como muchos apuntan. Destaco su buena producción, fotografía, maquillaje y vestido.
The Favourite didn't leave me with words to feed it, it left me with the feeling I was in the right place at the right time in a way that I never wanted it to end, until the exact moment it did.
Hands down to Olivia Colman but I was not expecting this from Emma Stone. Terrific acting!!
A macabre masterpiece. This is what happens when you mix a satire of perverted England, jealousy, dark humor and strong ambitious women. All three main stars deserve their current awards and nominations but the film alone deserves recognition for the sets, locations, cinematography, music, THE COSTUMES and its particular narrative style.
Superb acting, good direction and witty dialogues.
Shout by JimDarkoVIP 7BlockedParent2018-12-31T21:01:39Z
Let women run things! That will limit the game of politics and the conniving and the backstabbing! Or maybe it won't. I'm not much for period pieces (go ahead, make your joke), but this movie has a different energy from most and it elevates the subject matter to me. The crazy wide angle lenses and the camera whips pair a more modern style with the down and dirty look at the power struggle between the three main leads. They fight over power, love and survival and it is a fun watch. It didn't quite hold my attention the full 2 hours, but I completely understand why the movie is getting the hype. Olivia Colman is especially good as Queen Anne as a great reminder that just because someone has a position of power doesn't mean they don't constantly act like a child. Come for the queer love triangle but in the end the main lesson is be careful what you wish for...