The Favourite – 3 stars

A filmmaker who can communicate his vision as completely as Yorgos Lanthimos is no mean feat, even if the vision is as cruel and base as this. Lanthimos’ The Lobster was as original as it gets, but also sterile, unfeeling, and nasty. The Favourite, a period piece of court intrigue, is more traditional, but it shares The Lobster‘s rank cynicism and hatred of its characters.

Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone attend court and vie for the attentions and favor of Queen Anne (Olivia Coleman). Weisz wants power, Stone security. They share a weary, dim view of their patriarchal world; the men are for the most part fops, suck-ups, and/or brutes, and it is amusing to watch Weisz and Stone endure and best them.  While their war has its moments, their single-minded pursuit of the upper hand is rooted solely in the base instincts of survival, empathy is hard to come by. The viewer is detached from their fates and the accompanying pain. They flash as human, but they don’t really seem it.

The performances, however, are stellar.  Coleman’s turn as the mercurial and insecure queen, for which she won the Oscar, is a masterful blend of the sympathetic and comic. She is the ultimate tormentor, but ironically, she’s the only one you feel bad for.

Ultimately, per custom, Lanthimos has made a technically adept yet a frigid and un-involving picture.  Lanthimos reminds me of Darren Aronofsky in his penchant for brutalization, but he also brings a morbid fascination with bodily functions, which doesn’t help.