The FAVOURITE  2.8***

    Everybody requires something different from their moviegoing experience. Some of us need explosions and high-speed chases and easily identifiable good guys and bad guys while others want quiet moments of deep thought or subtle drama. There aren't any explosions in this film but there are deafeningly loud musket shots. There are no high-speed chases but  there is plotting, brooding, mind games and manipulation. And while we have bad gals/guys, there are no good gals/guys. The general theme of the movie is "Every woman or man for themselves" and to heck with anything else including one’s country. While there is humor spread out over the story the movie is still dark and troubling given the main theme.

The story goes like this: Lady Abigail (Emma Stone, excellent in the role) wants her place in aristocracy. New to the royal court, she is a cunning ambitious wannabe who craves fame, fortune, and, most importantly, power. Her arch rival is a woman just as cruel and demanding, her cousin, Lady Sarah Churchill (a winning Rachel Weisz) who is firmly entrenched in all the decision-making for Queen Ann (ruled England 1702 to 1714. These ladies-in-waiting scheme and battle to gain control of the queen. They rely on manipulation (including sexual advances) and one-upmanship to win-over a very unstable Queen Anne (a magnificent Olivia Colman), whose physical health and mental issues cloud her judgement.

The acting is absolutely stellar, Colman, Weisz, and Stone all giving crackerjack performances. The film explores the lengths to which people will go in order to yield power over one another. Though all three ladies get plenty of screen time, the film feels more "about" Abigail (Stone) than anyone, and we watch her first wrestle with her morals as she realizes how sleezy she will have to be to beat Lady Sarah (Weisz) at her game, and then commit to doing what she has to do to be top dog, . Olivia Colman (amazing acting job) as Queen Anne is a wolf in sheep's clothing, her physical and emotional frailty a camouflage for her monstrous obsession with being adored.

Director Lanthimos stages his scenes with astute skill, filling the screen with gorgeous costuming  and an amazing production . “The Favourite" looks stunning, the kind of film that often wins Oscars for production design, costume design, and cinematography and here actually deserves them. The film reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's "Barry Lyndon" in its look and tone, though "The Favourite" isn't afraid to get its hands dirty whereas "Barry Lyndon" remained stately and pristine.

I must admit that the Director Yorgos Lanthimos is not one of my favorite directors. While his 2015 film, “The Lobster” landed on some year-end  best films lists,  it landed on my “worst” film list. That movie was a pure indulgence of dry, cruel humor. His initial premise in “The Favourite” and  his other films is intriguing, but his convoluted plotting and third act ambiguous sour endings never satisfy.       

Rated R for strong sexual content (scenes of lesbian activity), nudity and language (these folks were rather bawdy)