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Favourite, The (15)

Drama

A period drama in which a servant and a courtier vie for the affections of their monarch, Queen Anne.


The critical consensus

Brash, bawdy and utterly beguiling, The Favourite is, much like its subjects, something of a deceptive confection.

*****Nikki Baughan, The List, 18/10/2018

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.

*****Christopher Hooton, The Independent, 18/10/2018

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.

*****Lana Murray, The Skinny, 22/10/2018

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.

****(*)Ian Freer, Empire Online, 21/12/2018

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.

****(*)Alistair Harkness, The Scotsman, 21/12/2018

He remains in the rut, but invites us all down for the party. Maybe his best film yet.

****(*)David Jenkins, Little White Lies, 30/12/2018

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.

****(*)Mark Kermode, The Observer, 30/12/2018

Three formidable females form a deliciously entertaining triangle in an audacious frock opera.

*****Neil Smith, Total Film, 31/12/2018

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.

****(*)Peter Callaghan, Review Sphere, 05/01/2019

Irreverent and anachronistic period comedy is a wickedly enjoyable romp.

****(*)Kirsty McGrory, The Wee Review, 06/01/2019

Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Colman deliver career-best performances in Yorgos Lanthimos' most accessible – and entertaining – film yet.

*****Lana Murray, The Skinny, 08/01/2019


Features about Favourite, The (15)

Yorgos Lanthimos, director of The Lobster, on his wild, star-studded life of Queen Anne

Jonathan Romney, The Guardian, 09/12/2018

The Favourite: The true story of Queen Anne and the Duchess of Marlborough as portrayed in the Oscar-nominated film

Joe Sommerlad, The Independent, 23/01/2019

Where and when?

General release. Check local listings for show times.

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