The Favourite: Scheming for power in a kinky palace triangle

The Favourite is a 2018 period black comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. It is a co-production by producers in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the United States. Set in early 18th-century England, the story examines the relationship between two cousins, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (played by Rachel Weisz), and Abigail Masham, who later became Baroness Masham (Emma Stone), vying to be Court favourites of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman); it is loosely based on historical events.

Filming took place at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire, and at Hampton Court Palace in Hampton Court, Surrey, between March and May 2017. The film premiered at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2018, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress (for Colman). It was released in the United States on 23 November 2018 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland on 1 January 2019. It became a box-office success, grossing $96 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 93% based on 367 reviews, and an average rating of 8.49/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “The Favourite sees Yorgos Lanthimos balancing a period setting against rich, timely subtext - and getting roundly stellar performances from his well-chosen stars.” Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 90 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating “universal acclaim”.

In his review for Entertainment Weekly, Chris Nashawaty gave the film an “A” rating, praising the effective presentation of themes dealing with royalty and associated “steamier, fact-adjacent subplots”. “It’s worth pointing out that The Favourite is easily Lanthimos’ most user-friendly movie, which isn’t to say it isn’t strange enough to please his fans, just that it may also convert a legion of new ones,” he wrote.

Peter Travers from Rolling Stone gave the movie five stars, saying, “Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and the mighty Olivia Colman turn a period piece into a caustic comeuppance comedy with fangs and claws… It’s a bawdy, brilliant triumph, directed by Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos with all the artistic reach and renegade deviltry… The Favourite belongs to its fierce, profanely funny female trio.”