Rent The Favourite (2018)

3.4 of 5 from 1423 ratings
1h 54min
Rent The Favourite (aka Favorite) Online DVD & Blu-ray Rental
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  • Available formats
Synopsis:
In early 18th-century England, a frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) occupies the throne, and her closest friend, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), governs the country while tending to Anne's ill health and volatile temper. When new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, Sarah takes Abigail under her wing as she cunningly schemes to return to her aristocratic roots, setting off an outrageous rivalry to become the Queen's favourite.
Actors:
, , , Emma Delves, , Paul Swaine, , LillyRose Stevens, , , , , , , Carolyn Saint-Pé, , , , ,
Directors:
Producers:
Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Yorgos Lanthimos, Lee Magiday
Writers:
Deborah Davis, Tony McNamara
Others:
Sandy Powell, Ed Guiney, Ceci Dempsey, Lee Magiday, Robbie Ryan, Yorgos Mavropsaridis, Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton, Nadia Stacey
Aka:
Favorite
Studio:
20th Century Fox
Genres:
Comedy, Drama
Collections:
2019, A Brief History of Lesbian Cinema, A History of British Queens in Film, Acting Up: British Actresses at the Oscars, Award Winners, BAFTA Nominations Competition 2024, CinemaParadiso.co.uk Through Time, Hare We Go Again! - Bunny Movies For Easter: Part 2, Holidays Film Collection, Ireland At the Oscars, Lions on the Lido, Oscar Nominations Competition 2024, That's All Fawkes! Top 10 Films Set in the Stuart Era, A Brief History of Film..., Top 10 Films and Shows About British Princes, Top Films
Awards:

2019 BAFTA Best Actress

2019 BAFTA Best Supporting Actress

2019 BAFTA Best Original Screen Play

2019 BAFTA Best Costumes

2019 BAFTA Best Production Design

2019 BAFTA Best British Film

2019 BAFTA Make-Up And Hair

2019 Oscar Best Actress

2018 Venice Film Festival Grand Jury Prize

2018 Venice Film Festival Best Actress

BBFC:
Release Date:
13/05/2019
Run Time:
114 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 5.1, English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
DVD Regions:
Region 2
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
Bonus:
  • Deleted Scenes
  • The Favourite : Unstitching the Costume Drama
  • Theatrical Trailer
BBFC:
Release Date:
13/05/2019
Run Time:
114 minutes
Languages:
English Audio Description Dolby Digital 5.1, English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles:
English Hard of Hearing
Formats:
Pal
Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen 1.85:1
Colour:
Colour
BLU-RAY Regions:
B
Bonus:
  • Deleted Scenes
  • The Favourite : Unstitching the Costume Drama
  • Theatrical Trailer

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Reviews (38) of The Favourite

Too Clever For It's Own Good - The Favourite review by JK

Spoiler Alert
28/01/2019

Watching this film is a bit like watching Russell Brand - very smarty-pants clever but deeply distasteful. It ticks all the boxes in terms of sublime setting, lighting, costumes, make up etc. etc. but then you would hope so given how much it cost to make. Every shot is perfectly framed. Every frame could be a Rembrandt or Vermeer painting.

The three women are all brilliant but not necessarily Oscar worthy. If you had absolutely nothing to do all day and were in constant pain you'd be snappy and contrary.

It demonstrated Court corruption and the ridiculousness of political debate really well but aside from a few smile-provoking quips it was hardly the 'comedy' it was cracked up to be in the run up to its release and subsequent hoo-ha about it's ten Oscar nominations. All the funny bits are in the trailer.

On another level it is terribly sad and the sheer tedium of Court life would drive anyone to murderous thoughts but it just leaves a bad taste in the mouth. And speaking of mouths - how come the incredibly realistic bodily functions, blood, gore, fat etc. were depicted perfectly for the period but everyone had brilliantly white teeth, given that they all appeared to live on cake?

It's a 'Marmite' movie - either you will love or hate it.....that's why I've given it an average star score. 'Just can't make up my mind.

20 out of 25 members found this review helpful.

Historically inaccurate, over-rated, box-ticking, 'politically correct' feminist fantasy drama - The Favourite review by PV

Spoiler Alert
03/06/2019

I found the first hour of this film excruciatingly boring - I was watching the clock a lot. Then around the 1 hour mark, things pick up with the rivalry between the 2 'favourites'. From then on it's watchable.

Sarah Churchill who became Lady Marlborough (Queen Anne gave the lordship to her husband for his military and political duties, and Winston Churchill is from that line) DID in history fall out with the monarch and thus portrayed Anne badly in her memoirs. The falling out, however, was political and about money, NOT lesbian affairs of competition with other favourites. That is all pure fiction. It's MADE UP, folks!

But hey, make a movie about some old British monarch, give it a women-focused feminist slant, add a good dollop of lesbianism, and then add some illness/disability (miscarriages, gout, early 18th C wheelchairs) and you are guaranteed Oscar nominations. Queen Anne did have gout and get carried round in sedan chairs and in a wheelchair because it made her lame - she became very obese and depressive because of it too. That is fact.

BUT this film is not a patch on THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE (set 50-70 years later) or the brilliant THE KING'S SPEECH.

THE FAVOURITE is, in fact, rather a forgettable movie AND mostly fiction, which reflects our pc feminist #metoo age, not the historical reality of 300 years ago.

For the record, Queen Anne gave birth to 12 babies, 5 lived, most died under 2 years of age BUT one - William - lived till 11. The other 5 were miscarriages (half of all pregnancies end in miscarriage actually, most not even noticed).

There is NO historical record of any lesbian affair with a favourite or any poisoning or any rabbits or the rest - this is all from the imagination of the (female) author, no doubt keen to put women and women's concerns centre-stage in her script (which took 20 years to be filmed - it's now 'on trend' as is so female-focused, of course).

Yes, gambling was growing popular at the time. Yes, Queen Anne's 5 year reign was important because under her Great Britain was formed as a solely Protestant Christian nation which excluded Catholics (like Anne's deposed Papist father King James II - her sister was Mary, married to William of Orange, who ruled as WILLIAM AND MARY from the 1688 Glorious Revolution) and modern Tory-Whig politics developed. THAT is what is important - and maybe the furniture. Not fantasy lesbian romantic subplots.

And people did NOT use the word 'smart' to mean 'clever' in the early 18th century either. That is annoying. The language AND the female characters in this film are WAY too modern - it's like 'girl power' and post-1990s aggressive feminist women. They would NOT have behaved like that in the 18th century - or even 50 years ago! As per usual, the women are just TOO modern in looks and attitudes. And thus, not really believable as characters.

Thankfully, the diversity police have not riddled the cast with black actors, making it all unrealistic, though the number of black servants is overplayed and the sole black noblewoman I glimpsed is an absurdity - she would simply not have been there. It's a shame people who watch this will think they are watching documentary history. They are not, They are watching a Mills and Boon, feminist, made-up version of history to suit the 'politically correct' prejudices of our age.

To watch a brilliant movie set just before this in history, watch THE LION IN WINTER all about the development of the English Civil War and Charles I.

Worthy of Oscars? No. Except for costume design.

The music and credit design at the end is dreadful.

2.5 stars rounded up.

11 out of 24 members found this review helpful.

Pointless film - The Favourite review by PL

Spoiler Alert
28/03/2019

I have a lot of sympathy with JK's review, but I'm even harsher. It's beautifully shot but I just couldn't help but feel the film is pointless and weird. It's not really clear what you're supposed to take away from it. Yes it shows corruption and politics well but I think most viewers had a sense of how nuts it all was during the period anyway so I don't think the film adds any value there. We live in a golden age of film and television, so I would advise spending two hours of your life watching something more convincing.

9 out of 14 members found this review helpful.

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