Movie Man Darian Watching All Night Long

The Favourite

This film is a well acted, well written and incredibly complex film that you’ll either love or hate. Yorgos Lanthimos has become a director who’s crafted his own genre of filmmaking as their is no style like his I’ve ever seen. He stunned me with The Lobster a film he did some years ago now and he now brings all his cinematic flare with his take on Old England and the fight for the Queens attention lead by fantastically by Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz whom both deliver top notch performances that are a sight to behold in this film. 

Firstly, I will be honest when I first saw The Lobster I thought he was very odd with his style but the more I thought of it the more I became attached to his brand of filmmaking sure it’s different and weird and odd but It’s so refreshing to see someone with a brand new vision on things cinematically that can knockout the audience with his shocking and bold direction and that’s what he brings again to the table is his take on Old England as the backdrop for the story but the messages he tackles through the film is lust, greed and competition and their themes that are well executed and brutally honestly shown onscreen in ways that can come across as comedically witty Or dramatically satisfying. Crafting for great tones that balance themselves and never feel to veer into one direction but simply satisfy in so many great ways. 

Secondly, The casting for the film was fantastic Olivia Colman is getting great attention for her performance as Queen Anne which is well deserved as she in the film she is giving great moments of genuinely comedic humour but also fantastic dramatic strength as well and shows a dominating performance that is enjoyable to the end. Then you have the two leads Rachel Weisz who brings the serious anchor to her performance that really worked greatly as she plays the proper one who and is very much the emotional support of the Queen but can come across as mean and intense and it’s due to Rachel’s performance and great complex work in the film you invest in her. Then you have Emma Stone who brings the edge and sharpness of a snake that seems nice at first glance but she sheds so many different personalities which result in great moments of Emma onscreen bringing a unpredictability to her performance that is fantastically captured and done. 

Lastly, This film is Yorgos best film yet capturing the outlook on fighting for one’s attention and how toxic and competitive it can get brought amazingly by his style that fit the frame so well and lead by its fantastic cast at the front giving a film that will leave you shocked and impressed The Favourite is a film I recommend everyone go see 

Rated R : for strong sexual content, nudity and language

This film centres on Queen Anne and her servant who is by her side at all times but when A new woman comes to work for her she mixes things up wanting the Queens attention but as the both of them get dangerously competitive to win the Queens affection they will do anything to prevail to win her attention. 

Emma Stone : Stone gives one of her best performances yet! Stone has delivered time and time again and here she gives a performance full of surprises and emotions we have never seen her channel onscreen before. She plays a girl who starts as nothing and by the end has everything and at first glance seems like a nice girl but we learn she’s more dangerous then meets the eye. All of this would of not of worked if not for the fantastic performance given by Emma and her sheer commitment to every frame with her fantastic emotional range. She has a fantastic character arc that she works with through the film she draws you in with her sweetness and then switch it up and be totally devious with hate in her eyes and become incredibly unpredictable within seconds. Her ability to deliver her dialogue was razor sharp and delivers in such a real and honest way. She could say the most heavy handed things as if they meant nothing and ontop of her great ability to capture this person onscreen she plays the emotions of the character so well. She could be so charming and then so mean and it’s the great layers she sheds through the film that is well done and well acted by Emma that gets you so captivated by her work onscreen you simply cannot look away. She explores places she’s never been emotionally onscreen and gives surprising you resulting with  a charming and devious performance that is magnificently acted by Emma giving one of her best performances yet. 

Rachel Weisz : Rachel delivers a elegant and emotionally restraint performance that results in explosively rich moments! She plays the anchor for the queen who’s always their and their to please her but gets so much friction with the girl who comes in to by her attention and she shows you her side of things and how it looks from her point of view. And you really feel for her at first but then she becomes so full of jealousy and hate she will do anything to win and Rachel’s take on this character was fantastically well done. She could be so kind and proper then just tear someone apart with one insult or as much as a glare to someone. What she dose so well in her performance too is she’s so emotive she can tell you so much just by moments of looking in her eyes and her body language and she makes it look effortless. She also can be so devious and genuinely creepy without trying to be due to her great range of emotions she has such a complex range of layers she showcases throughout the film having moments of sadness, anger and happiness and everything in between. At the same time craft electric chemistry with Olivia Colman really believing she is by her side and then as well as having great chemistry with Stone capturing the great competitiveness onscreen. Rachel captures incredibly great moments of raw emotion with great honesty while giving such layers that will astonish and amaze you. 

Olivia Colman : Olivia Gives a tremendous performance that is truly outstanding to witness. She plays Queen Anne and from the beginning I thought this was going to be a very tongue and cheek performance from Olivia but it wasn’t it’s so much more then that her character and performance was so complex and gripping. She plays the character in such a witty yet heartbreaking sense and it works so greatly. She has this loneliness and constant need to have attention to keep her not alone and it’s never spoken or talked about she simply brings this quality to her that wasn’t needed but damn it added a layer to the character to really make her more then a one dimensional character. She has this great comedic timing to the character that she uses that’s effective but yet doesn’t make her be a joke but rather she took the serious dialogue and makes it funny without trying to be. At the same time this is a very serious performance and character approached by Olivia in a very interesting way. She can make you laugh or smirk out of any moment then the next she can be incredibly intense and have this fire in her eye and  intensity to her that is terrifying and then she can be so charming she has a incredibly arc in the film brought to life amazingly well by Colman who knows exactly how to play this character with rich emotion and dynamite delivery that captures a truly astonishing performance from her that is brilliant she truly commit to every frame and takes the character head on and is a true highlight of the film giving a outstanding performance driven by emotion. 

Yorgos Lanthimos : Yorgos gives a masterful piece of direction here! This man has crafted some of the most original films in the last few years that truly have astonished me. So hearing this film was getting great reviews I had to see what he had done this time. He has not written this film which is a shake up of what he usually dose but instead he just directs the film which dose not take away the greatness of his work here. He was able to bring the backdrop of Old England as the setting and fill the frame with such richness and amazement. He brings the tones of loneliness, greed, and lust and what’s great is he takes on these topics and showcase them in his style and you the viewer still pick up on the things he wants you to take away from the film. At the same time he pulls you in with the visual spectacle and keeps you intrigued by the premise while at the same time shocking and leaving the audiences guessing of where this tale will go.  His direction is razor sharp with amazing intrigue and great style you can’t help but love every minute of the film. He also gets outstanding work from his cast and is able to discuss the messages woven in the film with great heavy emotional weight while also having comedic wit put into the mix and the result is brilliant. He captures this period piece of a film so greatly and uses his style in such a genius way that you can’t look away. Yorgos has outdone himself directing one of the best films he’s ever done so far and I can’t wait to see what he’ll do next as this film is phenomenally helmed by Yorgos. 

The Score : The music composed in this film is beautiful! The music is very soft but also very intense at times. It’s choice to use a lot of violin into its music was genius it had this slow build where it would be very slow then build up time and time again until the music was fast and very intense and I loved that. It also could be very soft and very different with its ability to capture the moment of the scene with its music and it was very well done crafting a great score that captures the style and setting and emotion of this film perfectly.