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Original poster

The Favourite

87 replies

echt · 28/12/2018 09:32

Where to start with this:
acting all round, especially Olivia Colman, though I feel bit unfair ranking her when Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Nicholas Hoult were so entrancing too.

Outstanding costumes and tip-top disco dancing (spoiler alert).

It's petty much plot-free on the obvious level, though based on historical events and real people. Replete with anachronistic language, but deliberately so, so trés post-modern.

I loved it.

OP posts:
Lokisglowstickofdestiny · 31/12/2018 10:03

It's a brilliant film, funny and very touching in places (the rabbits). Olivia Colman is the standout performance although the others are also very good.

beanaseireann · 04/01/2019 19:57

Wasn't the Abigail woman very Machiavellian.
Sarah Marlborough certainly got "Wendied"

Sallygoroundthemoon · 04/01/2019 19:59

Great acting, very abrupt ending. It needed one of those summary pages that tells you what happens!

DioneTheDiabolist · 04/01/2019 20:03

Historical poshos being horrible to each other in every single scene.

I loved it.Grin

Stickerrocks · 04/01/2019 20:17

That poor rabbit. I'm sure it squelched.

TheSconeOfStone · 04/01/2019 20:32

I have seen this today and thought it was brilliant. The ending was rather odd though. Loved the rest. Acting from all three of them was superb. I love historical fiction and this made a refreshing change from Tudors or Victorians. I period of history I don't know enough about. The rabbits were very poignant.

lucydo · 05/01/2019 10:54

I loved it, and am still thinking about it.
Normally anachronisms in historical films really annoy me. This was chock full of them - the dancing, the striding around in men's clothing, the language - but I didn't mind, because you also got a real sense of the queen's life (as far as we know, of course). The relationship between the women was so well done. I loved the bit at the end, where Anne sees Abigail crunching the rabbit and comes to the realisation of who she is, then can't get away, and in revenge makes Abigail act subserviently. Abigail realises how she has to pay for what she has done. Neither woman is happy etc etc I could go on and on.
Though what all the rabbits in the final shot was about defeats me.
Nicholas Holt was miscast. Surely Lord Harley would have been an older man (though I may be wrong)

lucydo · 05/01/2019 10:55

Oh yes, I also learnt more about politics at the time

lucydo · 05/01/2019 10:56

Is anyone else old enough to remember watching The First Churchills on BBC? Susan Hampshire as Lady Churchill .

Original poster
echt · 05/01/2019 11:23

I'm the right age and checked it on YouTube and it rang faint bells.

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MargueritaPink · 05/01/2019 23:39

Fantastic film. Great performances all round. The costumes were stunning. I loved all the dresses being navy and white. Rachel Weisz's riding and shooting outfits were stunning.

Rodenhide · 06/01/2019 01:10

I absolutely loved it. The acting was great and it was very funny and enjoyable. There was something on the Graham Norton show on Nye, with Olivia Colman, which was hilarious.

GirlFliesHome · 06/01/2019 10:33

Not sure if I liked it but I certainly did not dislike it. Olivia Colman was exceptional. An odd film that has stuck with me. I cried when the Queen explained why she had her rabbits.

It's really stayed with me.

sluj · 06/01/2019 15:52

Just got back from seeing it and now delving into my books to find out more about that time.
I liked it but really found the music quite jarring at times.

Trills · 06/01/2019 15:55

I enjoyed how surreal it was, and the use of music.

Didn't mind any anachronisms at all because it was clearly not meant to be naturalistic.

"Shall we go fast?" in the wheelchair was so joyful.

DippyAvocado · 06/01/2019 16:00

I'm really looking forward to seeing it. "The Queen's Favourites" by Jean Plaidy was one of my favourite historical novels when I was growing up and tells the Sarah Churchill/Abigail Masham story, although definitely no inference of lesbian affairs. That wasn't quite Jean' Plaidy's style!

ApolloandDaphne · 07/01/2019 12:50

I wasn't sure about it as it stated but by the end i was totally hooked. I agree the music was a bit intrusive at times but i think that was because it was coming out of a speaker near my seat (small independent cinema with a few quirks!). Olivia Coleman was stupendous but Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz were both fab too.

CantstandmLMs · 07/01/2019 22:10

Loved loved loved!

Doilooklikeatourist · 08/01/2019 17:20

Saw it last night
Wasn’t what I was expecting , but I loved it 😀
Beautiful costumes, scenery , music and I want to live in that palace
I’ve just ordered the Jean Plaidy book !

RedDeadRoach · 09/01/2019 17:21

I thought Olivia Colman was absolutely astounding. The person I went with sat there wondering how on Earth she got a Golden Globe and I sat there thinking she's going to clean up all the awards.

I have depression and her performance resonated with me so much because it was so subtle. The way she seeks out things that she hopes will comfort her, but when they fail to do so she rages like a child. Her explanation of why she has the rabbits also made me cry. I read a review that said character of Queen Anne was weak and slow witted. I think that the way Olivia played her was not that she was weak and slow-witted but absolutely ravaged by grief and sadness.

I enjoyed a film being made with a strong female cast and the males being bit players. I like the way that all three women look so different yet all the male characters look the same and blend into the background. Nicholas Hoult I thought was also very good.

Dowser · 09/01/2019 20:50

Thought the filming was sumptuous, fabulous sets and costumes
I read the Jean plaid book eons ago...
Music got on my nerves.
At times I thought what the heck is all this about...it’s weird.
I’m not very highbrow when it comes to cinema and I suspect dh was bored as it’s not his kind of film
It had a bit of dangerous liaisons about it...but I think I enjoyed that more.

cafesociety · 09/01/2019 21:35

I saw it today and thought it was an amazing film. It wasn't what I expected but enjoyed it all from the first minute. The acting by the main characters was brilliant. Olivia Coleman was tremendous. The story flowed well and I found it amusing and moving in turn. The interactions between the 3 women were fascinating. Interesting in so many ways, the costumes and the interiors, the history. Great film.

MargueritaPink · 10/01/2019 00:11

I can now forgive Emma Stone for the underwhelming La La Land.

KeepingTheWormsQuiet · 10/01/2019 16:26

The acting was great and it all looked fantastic. I don't care about historical accuracy: it's a bit of a romp.

I did think some of it was a bit silly and a man's fantasy about women and lesbianism. Women can be close and needy etc without it being sexual. I thought the fighting scene between Abigail and Col. Marsham was ridiculous.

The music was very intrusive and what the hell was that anachronistic song over the end credits? (I love A Knight's Tale so I don't always mind anachronistic songs). I also hated the font used in the inter-titles and the credits.

mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork · 11/01/2019 13:27

Saw this yesterday. I loved it too (though, I agree, the music was a bit intrusive at times). Re. the end, we thought that we were being shown that the Queen and her favourite were stuck with each other for all time though neither of them liked the other and no-one was happy. It would go on this way and the only things that would thrive and multiply were the rabbits (some critic said this too, I think). We went to see this because we liked the Lobster.