A period drama in which a servant and a courtier vie for the affections of their monarch, Queen Anne.
Brash, bawdy and utterly beguiling, The Favourite is, much like its subjects, something of a deceptive confection.
It’s a hilarious, buffoonish pleasure, right down to the sets and costume design, and a breeze to spend 120 minutes with. All hail Lanthimos’s finest, most consistent film yet.
The director of Dogtooth and The Lobster delivers his most accessible and entertaining film yet, with Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman outstanding in this wild period comedy.
Weird, dirty but accessible, The Favourite is a perfectly performed, thrillingly made period picture that morphs before your very eyes. Come for the top-drawer hi-jinx; stay for a moving look at human foibles and frailties.
It’s Colman’s horrifying and heartbreaking performance as Queen Anne that steals the film, anchoring the barbed wit and salacious intrigue with self-lacerating pathos.
He remains in the rut, but invites us all down for the party. Maybe his best film yet.
Yorgos Lanthimos’s tragicomedy set in the court of Queen Anne boasts daring performances from its three female stars and lashings of lust, intrigue and deceit.
Three formidable females form a deliciously entertaining triangle in an audacious frock opera.
Directed with great flare and subtlety by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Lobster) who draws tremendously scene-stealing performances from his three leads, none more so than Olivia Colman who alternates between playful kitten to monstrous tiger at the crack of a whip, it is little wonder that the film has earned a raft of rave reviews and accolades including five Golden Globe nominations.
Irreverent and anachronistic period comedy is a wickedly enjoyable romp.
Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman deliver career-best performances in Yorgos Lanthimos' most accessible – and entertaining – film yet.
Yorgos Lanthimos, director of The Lobster, on his wild, star-studded life of Queen Anne
The Favourite: The true story of Queen Anne and the Duchess of Marlborough as portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film
General release. Check local listings for show times.