The Favourite is wickedly witty and a raucous good time

Wickedly funny and endlessly entertaining, this five-star new release is an extraordinary movie. It’s also quite insane.

If you see a movie’s description starting with, “Set in the early 18th century court of Queen Anne,” most people would roll their eyes and move on.

Let me assure you, The Favourite is not a regular historical drama — not even close.

This is a thrilling, deliciously nasty and endlessly entertaining movie featuring three jaw-droppingly great performances from Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.

It’s also mad — a cavalcade of venomous dialogue, malignant plotting and first-class passive-aggression as courtiers battle for power in increasingly absurd ways.

It is, quite simply, an utter and hilarious delight.

By 1708, the widowed Queen Anne (Colman) is facing a battle on two fronts — an expensive war with France and a war with her own body, as painful bouts of gout leave her writhing on the floor in pain, screeching like a wounded bird.

Anne is clingy, insecure and childlike, at times coddled and at times disciplined as if she had broken a toy truck — a stunning performance from Colman who captures Anne’s neuroses and petulance, born out of pain, loss and being boxed in to her life, despite her privilege and position.

At her side is Sarah Churchill, Lady Marlborough (Weisz), a close friend and confidante with considerable influence over Her Majesty, effectively ruling the affairs of state — something that frustrates politician Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult) and his opposing agenda.

Sarah is both Anne’s keeper (sternly telling her off for drinking hot chocolate) and her servant at the whims of a volatile monarch. They are also lovers.

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Complex female relationships fuel the drama and comedy in The Favourite

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The status quo is disrupted when Sarah’s young, impoverished cousin, Abigail Hill (Stone), arrives at the palace, seeking employment after her father disgraced himself and gambled the family’s fortune and name away.

At first Abigail is relegated to the kitchens as a lowly maid, but the opportunistic and clever woman soon finds herself in a position to ingratiate herself with the needy Anne, setting off a fierce rivalry with Sarah.

At the core of this brilliant film is the triangle between these three flawed women — the push and pull of female relationships, the jealousy, fear, ill-will, warmth and genuine affection. It’s such a multi-layered portrayal of women interacting that you rarely get to see in film.

And what drive those dynamics are the extraordinary performances from all three leading women who balance each other perfectly, with the kind of cracking chemistry that you can’t stop watching.

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Emma Stone pulls off a convincing British accent

The Favourite director Yorgos Lanthimos is responsible for some eccentric and imaginative films, including The Lobster, Killing Of A Sacred Deer and Dogtooth. He challenges viewers with unconventional stories and a stiff, mannered style, which he has dialled back in The Favourite, easily his most mainstream and accessible work.

Visually, The Favourite is an opulent and extravagant affair, but it’s far from languorous, with short, sharp verbal exchanges and energetic camera work contrasting with all the damask, velvet and tapestries.

A bizarre, slow-motion duck race (Horatio wins!) points to the court’s indulgence and farce, something Lanthimos delights in reminding us.

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The Favourite was also in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster

For example, the already tall Hoult is often filmed from below which, along with his ridiculous bouffant, gives the impression of him towering over everyone else in a scene. Yet, his character is mostly powerless, desperately grasping for control while his facial expressions always have the air of barely holding in a fart.

And then there’s that strange modern dance number — to say any more would ruin the insane spectacle.

It’s that kind of visual/character juxtaposition Lanthimos so cleverly plays with. He also uses a fisheye lens to distort the image, reinforcing the buffoonery.

The Favourite ticks all the boxes for a gloriously good time at the cinemas, delivering in equal spades a raucously entertaining, wickedly witty movie and a marvellous showcase for three talented performers.

Rating: ★★★★★

The Favourite is in cinemas now.

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