The Favourite

Don’t expect a history lesson when going into a movie like The Favourite, a black comedy about the rivalry between Lady Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill over Queen Anne’s affections and position of power. While the basics of the plot are factual the devil is not, in this case, in the details and much of what is seen on screen is a fabrication invented for the movie. This is the type of film that history buffs find maddening as it ignores the reality in favor of a highly entertaining film that could have easily taken place in the modern world with little alteration. Certain elements to the plot seem out of place in 16th century England but that is all in service of the story that director Yorgos Lanthimos wanted to tell. This production would go on to be highly decorated with ten Oscar nominations, ultimately winning just one for the tremendous acting performance given by Olivia Colman as Queen Anne, a monarch besieged with ill health and a disinterest in the politics that are thrust upon her. 

Perhaps the biggest leap from historical accuracy to film comes in the relationship between Anne and the rivals Sarah and Abigail. While there is speculation that a physical romance may have existed between Anne and the others there is no actual proof it ever happened. Most scholars believe that Anne’s ailments would have dampened any sex drive she had by this point in her life. Add to that her husband, Prince George, who was alive at this time but is completely absent from the film. There were some letters Sarah threatened to publish as blackmail but their contents are lost to history so they may or may not have confirmed an intimacy between the two women. Whether it happened or not is debatable. This movie takes that direction and runs with it in such a way as to create drama and motives that are highly speculative yet make for good cinema. For that, historical accuracy is negligible. Movies aren’t meant to be history lessons, anyway.

The film opens in 1705 during the British war with France. Queen Anne, suffering from poor health, including a bad case of gout, shows little interest in governing, pawning most of that off onto her confident and advisor Sarah (Rachel Weisz). Instead, she prefers spending her time playing with her seventeen rabbits, surrogates for her lost children, dead either from miscarriages or shortly thereafter. Sarah also serves a second purpose for Anne, as her secret lover, something Sarah uses to help control the monarch through her influence on her. Sarah’s efforts to control Anne are often undermined, though, by Robert Harley (Nicholas Hoult), the leader of the Opposition who seeks information he can use to influence the Queen for his own interests. 

Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), Sarah’s impoverished younger cousin, arrives. Her father gambled her away in a game of whist which has tainted her standing and left her in need of employment. Upon arrival she is put to work as a scullery maid in the palace. Upon seeing the Queen suffering from gout she forages for herbs and enters the Queen’s private chambers without permission to apply them to her legs. When she is caught, Sarah has her whipped for the offense only to call off the punishment midway through when it is discovered that the treatment has helped the Queen with her pain. Abigail is subsequently made Lady of the Bedchamber. One evening Abigail accidentally witnesses Sarah and the Queen being intimate. Later she will be approached by Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford, asking her to spy on the Queen and Sarah, looking for opportunities to circumvent Sarah’s authority over her majesty. Abigail initially refuses, telling Sarah of the conversation, but will later rethink the proposition when an opportunity arrises for her to take over as the Queen’s favourite. Thus begins a battle of wills as Abigail matches wits with Sarah and schemes her way back into good social status, a loveless marriage, and into the Queen’s bed.

The Favourite had been in development for twenty years before it finally made it to the silver screen. Deborah Davie, a juvenile screenwriter discovered the initial backbone of this story through some initial research that intrigued her. Letters, memoirs and other writings painted a picture of a female triangle the was born out of the manipulations of a desperate woman looking for any opportunity to regain her station. Sarah’s memoirs of the events were of particular value to Deborah as she wrote because they detailed how she was usurped as the Queen’s absolute favourite. The screenplay was met with enthusiasm by producer Ceci Dempsey but financing was hard to come by because of the lesbian content and a distinct lack of male leads, a problem that financiers felt would hinder any chances of making a profit off the picture. 

When Yorgos Lanthimos became involved with the project he toned down the focus on the lesbian relationships while still keeping it a key part of the plot. Any sexual moments are mostly kept off screen and under cover minimizing any real eroticism. Sex is seen as a means to an end rather than a pleasurable experience for either Abigail or Sarah, both of whom use it to gain status with the Queen. When Abigail is granted a marriage that will restore her station in royal society she is completely disinterested in having relations with her new husband, choosing to satisfy his needs without a trace of emotion or care. She is cold and calculating, machiavellian in her actions and interactions with those around her. When she sees Sarah in bed with the Queen it is not long afterwards that she maneuvers her way into that same situation. 

She’s not above attempted murder, either. When it’s finally time to remove Sarah completely from the picture she poisons her tea, then, upon Sarah’s disappearance, provides evidence that she had been stealing money from the royal treasury. Sarah survives the attempt on her life but, when she finally is able to return to the palace, is banished by the Queen for her disloyalty.  The Queen, nearly out of her mind with pain from her many ailments, is easily manipulated by Abigail. When Abigail sees that Queen Anne uses her bunnies as surrogates for her lost children she plays on her emotions to get her on her side. Later, after Abigail has gotten all that she desires she will intentionally harm one of those bunnies only to get caught in the act by Anne who now can see that Abigail has been using her for her own desires. Anne may be disabled and in a lot of pain but she is still the Queen and she reminds Abigail of that fact quite sternly. 

All three of the principal actresses are in top form playing off of each other. Emma Stone, who had just won her first Oscar for La La Land two years prior was again nominated for her performance here. She had already proven to be an acting powerhouse by this time and has since gone on to win a second Oscar in 2024’s Poor Things, another Yorgos Lanthimos production. She’s playing off of the equally good Rachel Weisz who’s playing things much more subdued yet equally mesmerizing. Rachel is almost colder as Sarah than Emma’s Abigail, at one point shooting an unarmed pistol at her, while game shooting, in an attempt to make a statement to the young woman about what can happen should she step out of line. Abigail will later fire her own gun, hitting a game bird and spraying the blood on Sarah, making her own statement back.

But the real acting powerhouse here is Olivia Colman. Olivia is almost unrecognizable here as Queen Anne. Not only does she have to convey the gravity of her position as the monarch but also the great levels of pain she is going through both emotionally and physically. Later into the film she will develop signs of a possible stroke as the one side of her face droops. She has to contend with the manipulations of the two women closest to her as they scheme against each other while at the same time loving both of them. After banishing Sarah from the palace she eagerly looks through her daily mail hoping for a letter of apology from her, a letter that Abigail gets to first and destroys. She never fully turns on her former lover even when she is certain she had been betrayed. Olivia covers a wide array of emotions and infirmities and does so so convincingly that it actually overshadows her costars a little and led to her winning an Oscar for it. 

The Favourite is not a film for everybody. The scenes of lesbianism, while muted and infrequent, may bother some people who have strong opinions on the subject. The choice to focus heavily on themes rather than historical accuracy will also be a turn off to some. However, these things contribute to making a motion picture that is rich in story and substance and has a wicked satirical bite that is a sheer delight to witness. On the surface this looks like a period piece drama which generally has a limited audience to it, but it is anything but that. This is a social satire that could have played out in a modern setting but just so happened to be set in the 16th century in England. The setting may have been centuries ago but the characters and motivations are definitely modern. It defies the trappings of period dramas and instead is a biting look at greed and social status, a condition that exists in any time period.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos

Best Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Best Actress: Olivia Coleman (won)

Best Supporting Actress: Emma Stone

Best Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz

Best Original Screenplay: Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara

Best Cinematography: Robbie Ryan

Best Costume Design: Sandy Powell

Best Film Editing: Yorgos Mavropsaridis

Best Production Design: Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton

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Release Date: November 23, 2018

Running Time: 120 Minutes

Rated R

Starring: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz

Directed By: Yorgos Lanthimos