If you’re a movie and award buff like me, then you’d be no stranger to ‘The Favourite’ which stars Olivia Colman, Rachael Weisz and Emma Stone.
If you’re not, ‘The Favourite’ is a 2018 movie that got 10 nominations including Best Picture (alongside Roma) for the 2019 Oscars, the highest for the year. Interestingly, until the Oscar nominations were announced in January, I had never really taken this movie seriously. But the number of nominations it got, coupled with the 94% given to it by critic site rotten tomatoes aroused my interest. And of course it starred Oscar winning actress Emma Stone whom I am very fond of.
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The Favourite is set in early 18th century England, when the English were at war with the French. The Queen at the time was Anne played by Olivia Colman. However as a result of her ill temper and frail nature, her close friend and ‘love interest Lady Sarah played by Rachael Weisz, governs the country in her stead. At the beginning of the movie, a new servant Abigail, a former lady arrives and convinces Lady Sarah to employ her, growing from kitchen maid to her personal maid/assistant. But after Sarah takes Abigail under her wing, the later’s ambition initially masked sees her bootstrap her way into Queen Anne’s heart. The plot then thickens from there.
I particularly loved this movie very much because of my affinity for old English themed movies. However this didn’t kill my initial skepticism because I had seen many movies nominated for best picture that ended up been overrated. One of such movies is Alfonso Curazon’s Roma also up for best picture this year. I thought Roma was a decent understated movie, but 10 Oscar nominations? Common!
But I digress. The Favourite ended up being worth my time, and I loved how it gave a glimpse into the intricacies of the old English courts, what it was like to be a Lady of the court, and even more how court politics was played ‘iron hand in velvet glove style’.
The movie also reminded me of a very salient fact that Power in most cases is transient.I can’t explain how because that would mean me giving spoilers. But as human beings, many times we get too carried away with power that comes as a result of a position or suddenly acquired wealth, forgetting that things could change in the twinkle of an eye. This theme resounded with me immensely from this movie.
On the acting, Olivia Colman’s interpretation of Queen Anne was impressive because prior to seeing The Favourite, I had no recollection of her acting prowess in any movie I had seen so I wasn’t sure what to expect. She got nominated for all the awards that matter this season and has already won a number, including the Golden Globes and Critics Choice awards so I wasn’t too surprised about the Oscar nomination. And after seeing The Favourite, I dare say that she stands a great chance of winning them biggest of the all: the award for an actress in a leading role at the Academy awards holding 24th of this Month. Yalitza Aparicio(Roma) and Glen Close(The Wife) are strong contenders but fingers crossed, we’ll see how that goes.
Emma Stone, also did a great job as expected and Rachael Weisz was no disappointment either. Both women delivered on their roles and earned their Oscar nods for the best supporting actress gong. Being the only movie with two women vying for the gong from the same movie, higher chances are the award will go to one of them. Of the two women, Emma Stone is who I’m rooting more for.
In conclusion, the Favourite is a good movie, with great attention paid to detail. It was funny, shocking sometimes, and mostly straight to the point. I liked it very much, and I think you will too.
