The Favourite                    4 ½ stars

The Favourite is the latest film from director Yorgos Lanthismos who famously brought us The Lobster and The Killing of a Sacred Deer. The film is an unusual costume drama to say the least that covers part of the reign of Queen Anne of England in the early Eighteenth century when England was at war with France in the War of Spanish Succession.  The English forces under the command of the Duke of Marlborough were victorious over the French.  The great cost of the war created a division in policy between the war hungry Whigs and Tories who pushed for a peace settlement.  None of the above matters much in the course of the movie as it is mainly concerned with the relationships between the Queen (Olivia Colman) and her close friend Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Wiesz) who is the wife of the Duke of Marlborough, and a new arrival at the palace, a lowly maid formerly from an aristocratic family, Abigail (Emma Stone).  This is no ordinary period costume film.  It is a roudy and uproarious comedy full of sharp wit and sexual innuendo.  The movie never leaves the setting of the palace and we only hear about the war through the reports that some English nobles provide.  In fact, all but the main three women in the cast fulfil fairly minor roles.  The movie is completely carried by Colman, as the ailing Queen who requires constant attention from the staff, Wiesz, who constantly manipulates the Queen to get what she wants and Stone, as she apples her womanly charms to gain favor in the Queen’s eyes.  Sarah and Abigail spend most of the film finding ways to better one another and become the Queen’s favourite friend and advisor.  I would say the movie portrays a completely irreverent depiction of English royalty which contributes to its success.  I believe the movie will be rewarded when awards time comes around and thoroughly recommend it.  Also, the movie reveals a little known fact, that there were plenty of lesbian love affairs going on in the English palace in this period, something I had not heard in any history courses.