The Favourite – at Thame Cinema this Saturday

THE year is 1708, and Anne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, sits reluctantly on the throne, plagued with gout, depressed and listless, manipulated and infantilised by the power brokers that surround her.

The country is prosecuting a contentious war with France, and Anne is under pressure from opposing sides: those that favour raising land taxes to pursue the conflict; and those arguing for a peace treaty. The former view is in the ascendant. Anne’s close confidant and lover, Lady Sarah Churchill, is married to the Duke of Marlborough who is doing very nicely thanks to the war – to acknowledge his successes at Blenheim, the Queen has offered to build them a nice little palace near Oxford.

Sarah undermines Anne’s trust in her own judgement, ensuring that the decree of the monarch favours Marlborough’s own political objectives. Meanwhile, Sarah’s impoverished cousin Abigail lands at court in search of gainful employment. Initially installed in the scullery, bullied and forced to sleep among a pile of women in a cell, Abigail observes Sarah’s power play – and discovers the erotic hold that Sarah has over the Queen. Abigail decides to use her own knowledge of herbal medicines to sooth Anne’s gout ridden legs, gradually gaining Anne’s trust and affection.

Lanthimos’s acclaimed film has been described as an comedic romp, and there is certainly much farce, hilarity and plenty of downright zany vignettes of bizarre behind the scenes life at court. But The Favourite is perhaps better described as a tragi-comic depiction of the ruthless tooth-and-nail pursuit of power and what it costs: the wider context of early 18th century English politics; and the three-way struggle between two women and Queen herself. And Colman’s performance is transcendent. Anne is needy and vulnerable, pitiable and petulant, but also tragic, with the occasional glimpse of something more steely, a residual awareness of her own potency. Believe the hype about this one – there is so much to relish. View trailer HERE.

The Favourite – This coming Saturday, May 18, 8pm – UK 2018, 119 minutes, 15 certificate – Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, Starring Olivia Coleman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone