In 18th century England, Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) becomes bedridden, and allows her loyal lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), who also happens to be her secret lover, to handle the affairs of the country. One day, Sarah’s cousin Abigail (Emma Stone) comes calling looking for a job as a lowly servant. She soon ingratiates herself with the Queen and begins to curry favor with her. She eventually winds up in the royal bedroom, much to the ire of Sarah. Thus begins a series of betrayals between Sarah and Abigail as they vie for the Queen’s affections.
It’s not every day you get to see a lesbian love triangle involving the Queen of England. From the outset, The Favourite looks like your typical period piece, but it has a wicked streak about it and a sense of fun that a lot of these things lack. Also, this might be the only movie on record with a slow-motion scene of British aristocrats in powdered wigs watching a duck race, so it’s got that going for it too. I guess that’s what you get when you put a guy like Yorgos (The Lobster) Lanthimos at the helm.
The backstabbing and conniving between Abigail and Sarah to win the heart of the Queen is a lot of fun. Seeing the lengths each woman will go through to get what they want gives the movie an unexpected kick too. I’ve seen some reviews that state the last reel or so is “anticlimactic”, but it’s a crucial part of the film as it shows the characters grappling with the consequences of their actions. Without these scenes, it would’ve played like a typical romance. With them, it’s more like a tragedy.
Emma Stone is a real spitfire here, and she seems to be having a ball playing a devious temptress. Weisz is equally fine as the more mannered of the suitors, but it’s Colman’s heartbreaking performance as the lonely and love-starved Queen who is the most memorable.
Stone and Lanthimos later teamed up for the audacious Poor Things.
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