The Favourite

I feel that filming through a fisheye lens is not very appropriate for a historical costume film. Nor did I like the way the story was peppered with really vulgar language, which evokes the present rather than a bygone era. However, the screenplay is spot on about intrigue and devious manipulation at the royal court during the reign of Queen Anne of Great Britain is almost without fault. Most of all, however, I have to praise the excellent performances of Olivia Colman and Emma Stone. Both ladies obviously put their all into it, playing the roles of those unlikeable women incredibly convincingly. (70%) (10/15/2022)

As much as I like Lanthimos' previous films, I can't ignore the personal problem with them that everything in them – every leaf, every hair, every cloud – is an allegory. The Favouriteis the first film he didn't write the screenplay for himself, so that previous obstacle has fallen aside. Still, it's fun to watch a basically unconscious allegory of what it's probably been like for several years now in our own Lány. Leg included. (04/22/2019)

Next time I need a heavy dose of the bizarre, I will just watch election campaign videos of various political parties and I might even have a good laugh. This was just 2 hours of the bizarre without the funny part and all 3 main characters were just plain unlikeable and annoying. The quality of the filmmaking and acting performances is undeniable, but I was bored throughout the whole runtime. (08/17/2022)

This could have been a costume drama with a plot about getting closer to luxury, which is inherently linked to the subgenre of court intrigues. Perhaps that is why this story of an unhealthy trio of ladies is enriched with complete openness, such that there is no shortage of vulgarity at the local court, a lot of sex and vomiting, and a great deal of talk about both. Sure, I get it, maybe it was actually like that at the time, maybe this was the artistic intent. And yet it makes The Favourite less a sophisticated picture and more an unpleasant experience that's hard to shake off. That said, the main trio is played so well that it left me speechless. (02/21/2019)

If you are into Lanthimos’s peculiar poetics and stylistic whims, The Favourite will very possibly be the most entertaining film of the year for you. Though the division into chapters and some of the visual deformations leave a dodgy impression, the absurdly escalating conflicts, the play with the setting and the lightning, the performances and the music are so good that the film flows as smoothly as if it had been directed by Kubrick himself. It is very nice that in the age of Hollywood feminism there are so many Oscar contenders where female characters are uneducated, indecisive or unbearably manipulative bitches. 85% (01/29/2019)