The Favourite

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)

As much as I like Lanthimos' previous films, I can't ignore the personal problem with them that everything in them – every leaf, every hair, every cloud – is an allegory. The Favouriteis the first film he didn't write the screenplay for himself, so that previous obstacle has fallen aside. Still, it's fun to watch a basically unconscious allegory of what it's probably been like for several years now in our own Lány. Leg included. (22/04/2019)

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)

The Favourite was my first encounter with director Yorgos Lanthimos, whose name has been resonating at various festivals in recent years thanks to his distinctive creative style. The film certainly cannot be denied an original approach to the historical theme and to the work with the actors. It is essentially a concert of three very talented actresses, the most outstanding of whom is Olivia Colman in the lead role – I really hope she gets the Oscar, even though she is up against the Academy's long-neglected Glenn Close. I have to admit that I felt very sorry for Queen Anne at times, and I certainly wouldn't want to be in her shoes – surrounded by manipulators who know how to exploit a situation and take advantage of a queen with a fickle health and a poor education. The director certainly doesn’t pull any punchs and serves more than one raw scene, which underlined the local atmosphere, where a knife-edge fight between two supremely intelligent women takes place. The most emotionally powerful scene for me was probably the justification of rabbit breeding. The film benefited from a novel script, amazing performances and its visual style (unusual camera shots). P.S. I think I'll find time for more of the director's films in the future. (06/02/2019)

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)