The Favourite (2019)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Screenwriters: Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Starring: Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz, Emma Stone, Nicholas Hoult, Mark Gatiss, Joe Alwyn
Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite is a darkly comic period drama that pairs razor-sharp dialogue with sumptuous production design. From its opening moments — when a flippant line immediately sets an off-kilter tone — the film signals it will do more than simply reproduce a historical setting: it interrogates the rituals and theatricality of power while reveling in absurdity and cruelty. In this release Lanthimos expands his distinctive cinematic vocabulary to a larger, more ornate canvas, producing something that feels both baroque and modern.
Rachel Weisz’s Lady Sarah Marlborough opens the film with a wry, rueful voice that anchors the film’s satirical bent. The story unfolds as a triangle of ambition and dependency between Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and two women who compete for her favour: the refined, politically savvy Lady Sarah, and the wily, opportunistic Abigail (Emma Stone). The interplay among these three actresses is the engine of the film, and Lanthimos allows each performer the space to build a character who is at once comic, vicious and unexpectedly vulnerable.
One sequence that captures the film’s satirical eye depicts a lavish, over-the-top dance at a court gathering. The scene doesn’t merely mock 18th-century pageantry; it exposes how performative status can become grotesquely excessive, a spectacle both hilarious and unsettling. Those moments of heightened absurdity are balanced by scenes of astonishing intimacy, where the camera lingers on faces and gestures and lets small, tormented emotions register.
Comparisons to Lanthimos’s earlier work — especially The Lobster — are inevitable. The Lobster showcased his talent for marrying deadpan comedic premise with precise editing and economy of tone. The Favourite is less austere but more ambitious: everything from the cinematography to the costumes and production design is heightened, and yet those choices feel purposeful, not merely decorative. The film rewards repeated viewings, revealing layered power dynamics and hidden motives beneath its glittering surface.
Visually, The Favourite draws inspiration from classical filmmaking as well as from the period-drama canon. Echoes of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon appear in the careful compositions and the attention to lighting, but Lanthimos and his cinematographer bring a different sensibility — intimate, at times theatrical, and often startlingly modern. The use of close-ups, deliberate cross-dissolves and carefully controlled light creates a painterly look, while the camera’s slightly off-kilter framing reinforces the film’s emotional disquiet.
At the centre of the film are three extraordinary performances. Olivia Colman inhabits Queen Anne with a complexity that alternates between fragile dependency and unpredictable authority; her work is quietly devastating and easily the film’s emotional core. Rachel Weisz’s Lady Sarah is agile and commanding, while Emma Stone’s Abigail brings a scrappy intelligence and combustible energy. Their chemistry drives the narrative and elevates the script’s barbed humour. Nicholas Hoult, Mark Gatiss and Joe Alwyn provide effective supporting turns, and Hoult in particular brings a comic flamboyance that punctuates several of the picture’s most memorable scenes.
Lanthimos’s direction treats many scenes like staged tableaux: he lingers on reactions, allows silence to take on weight, and frequently avoids conventional shot-reverse-shot patterns. That theatrical approach gives the film a distinctive rhythm, making every frame feel carefully composed and every gesture consequential. The editing and score further shape this formal design, emphasizing shifts in power and mood without ever dulling the film’s wit.
The Favourite is not a conventional period drama. It is an audacious blend of historical trappings and contemporary sensibility — sharp, often uncomfortable, and consistently entertaining. The film’s craftsmanship is evident in every department: production design, costume, cinematography, script and performance all coalesce into a work that is both visually dazzling and emotionally precise. For audiences seeking a period piece that subverts expectations while delivering strong performances and striking visuals, The Favourite stands out as one of the most satisfying films of its season.
22/24