The Favourite

I am not an expert on Lanthimos' work, so I cannot pass informed judgment on where he has advanced with his latest film and what is missing compared to his previous films. My only previous encounter, in the form of a mix of absurd drama and comedy called The Lobster, was decent, so I accepted my daughter's invitation to accompany her to the movie theater. I must admit that if it weren't for the social role of being an escort for my daughter, I would have gotten up and left the movie theater after half an hour - to that extent, Lanthimos and I did not see eye to eye this time. His strong weapon is the camera, often using the "fish-eye" method. The set and costumes are also worth mentioning, but they should actually be a given for this type of production. The music did not interest me, as it was strangely disharmonic, indulging in fluctuating intensity - almost as if the director was afraid the audience would fall asleep. According to my daughter, this is a typical characteristic of the director's work. I have a fundamental problem with the characters. They are dark caricatures controlled by basic instincts and driven by the simplest motivations and goals. It is not so much that there are practically no positive characters in the film with whom I could identify but rather, I feel that politics in the highest echelons of power could not be carried out on such a primitive basis. What was missing for me was sophistication and cleverness - both in the behavior of the film characters and in the way the story is told. By the way, open lesbian games belong to different times. The lack of discretion would have backfired on the monarch. Lanthimos intentionally holds back on the humor and puts those few scenes in the opening third of the film. The Favourite is neither a realistically told story nor a stylized absurd play - the director would have to add a significant amount of exaggeration for that. What bothered me the most was the half-heartedness in the approach to the characters. Do I want to show the "vileness" of one of the protagonists? Then I'll let her vomit into a jug in detail. I understand that Lanthimos wanted to delve into what we consider unpleasant, repulsive, unclean, obscene, deformed, and cruel, but even ugliness can have its own aesthetics and be presented in a more creative form. Lanthimos will certainly find an enthusiastic audience for this, but I will not join them. No, you did not please me, Lanthimos, and I in turn, I will not please you either. Overall impression: 40%. (31/01/2019)

If you are into Lanthimos’s peculiar poetics and stylistic whims, The Favourite will very possibly be the most entertaining film of the year for you. Though the division into chapters and some of the visual deformations leave a dodgy impression, the absurdly escalating conflicts, the play with the setting and the lightning, the performances and the music are so good that the film flows as smoothly as if it had been directed by Kubrick himself. It is very nice that in the age of Hollywood feminism there are so many Oscar contenders where female characters are uneducated, indecisive or unbearably manipulative bitches. 85% (29/01/2019)

This could have been a costume drama with a plot about getting closer to luxury, which is inherently linked to the subgenre of court intrigues. Perhaps that is why this story of an unhealthy trio of ladies is enriched with complete openness, such that there is no shortage of vulgarity at the local court, a lot of sex and vomiting, and a great deal of talk about both. Sure, I get it, maybe it was actually like that at the time, maybe this was the artistic intent. And yet it makes The Favourite less a sophisticated picture and more an unpleasant experience that's hard to shake off. That said, the main trio is played so well that it left me speechless. (21/02/2019)

Next time I need a heavy dose of the bizarre, I will just watch election campaign videos of various political parties and I might even have a good laugh. This was just 2 hours of the bizarre without the funny part and all 3 main characters were just plain unlikeable and annoying. The quality of the filmmaking and acting performances is undeniable, but I was bored throughout the whole runtime. (17/08/2022)

I'm sorry, but I couldn't get on the right wave to enjoy The Favourite practically until the end. Although all three actresses act great (Emma Stone’s grimaces versus Rachel Weisz's stone face), but what it's all for when I was raising my eyebrows in astonishment regarding the bizarre things that were unfolding on screen, and I was wondering what's wrong with me, that the surprisingly cringey humor doesn't make me laugh like everyone else (or some other people) in the movie theatre. The impressively strange camera reminded me of Juraj Herz's films (mainly the fisheye is like the one from The Cremator); however, it didn't improve the experience much. The film seemed too long to me after about an hour and although I was wondering what would happen next, nothing actually happened that I didn't expect. That’s too bad. (30/01/2019)