I've finally gotten around to seeing 2019 Best Picture Nominee The Favourite. It was...pretty fantastic.
This film might be the most accessible thing Lanthimos has directed, it's nowhere near as prickly as his previous work. That said, I still think this is an excellent film with a lot of elements to enjoy and challenging concepts to explore.
The acting on display is fantastic for the most part with Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone both giving noteworthy performances as bitter rivals. Olivia Colman is the easy standout here giving a very vulnerable yet volatile performance as Queen Anne, a well-deserved Best Actress win indeed.
Like most Lanthimos pictures The Favourite likes to play with perspective, in one scene we will be in close up with Abigail (Emma Stone) the entire time, playing with all kinds of head angles. In the next scene, we will get a more neutral mid-shot of court that acts like a cross-section of the inner workings of this dangerous world. In the next an aerial where all the characters look like little pawns running about the chessboard. Suffice it to say, there's not a boring shot in the whole lot, wonderfully diverse and imaginative cinematography.
Now for a bit about the plot. This is an appropriate time to apply the age-old adage, "don't judge a book by its cover". The Favourite looks a whole lot like a stuffy period drama, hell, occasionally it even pretends it is one. But don't be fooled, this is much more than that. A dark comedy frequently, a silly one occasionally, a melancholic ode to depression, even a love story. The tone is a slippery thing to nail down, but not because its shifts are too abrupt, every change is deliberate and makes logical sense within the narrative.
This is a movie that probably means a lot of different things to different people. I personally found it funny as hell yet a little disturbing (wouldn't be a Lanthimos film if it weren't).
Overall, I think this is a refreshingly unique film that stands out against a backdrop of remakes, franchises, and adaptations. It's also just a lot of fun.
9/10 Prickly, Pungent, Passion