Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite poses as biting historical satire, but it’s more self-indulgent pageant than powerful commentary—a tableau of power struggles and female rivalry that never quite earns our investment. It’s a visually dazzling indulgence—fine costumes, wide-angle lenses, candles flickering like Instagram filters—but the narrative and emotional core? Practically nonexistent.
🎭 Characters: Cold, Cruel, and Uncaring
Olivia Colman’s Queen Anne is a spiritual mess—spoiled, paranoid, and prone to delirium. Think regal dementia with a side of gout. She mutters about her 17 lost pregnancies and caresses rabbits like a grief-addled pet hoarder. But her pain never resonates—it’s theatrical, not tragic.
Rachel Weisz’s Lady Sarah and Emma Stone’s Abigail are snakes posing in lace. Their scheming is relentless, but Lanthimos treats them as walking tropes rather than people. Every reptilian maneuver is undercut by Lanthimos’s insistence on emotional distance. Neither woman earns empathy—only pity, and not even that feels deserved. As a Redditor put it about the film:
“The film sucked… the characters were flat, vulgar, and unlikeable”
When every lead is morally bankrupt and all relationships are toxic, we’re left with a palace full of narcissists—compelling, sure, but impossible to root for.
🧭 Direction & Tone: Imperial Artifice With No Compass
Lanthimos cements his trademark detachment: dialogue is clipped, camera moves are stiff, and moments of emotional connection are smothered in ironic veneers. A Guardian critic perfectly dismissed the forced “lesbianism and bunnies” as insufficient to disguise the hollowness beneath .
There’s humor, but it’s dark, cringe-laugh humor—designed to make you feel uncomfortable, not amused. Many laughs fall flat, buried under the weight of aristocratic ugliness and sterile self-awareness.
🕰️ Narrative: Brilliantly Staged, Emotionally Paralytic
At first, the slow buildup of intrigue might hook you. But by mid-film, we care more about divergences in hallway carpets than who gets the next ascension. According to Reddit and IMDb commentary, the story fizzles predictably:
“Far too abrupt… not much to write home about” .
The climax is sharp, but no emotional thread ties us to the stakes. We watch events unfold, but we don’t feel them.
🎥 Style Over Substance
Visually? Yes—gorgeous. Robbie Ryan’s wide-angle aesthetic creates an off-kilter world where court opulence feels warped and uneasy. And the fisheye lens! So quirky you’d think Lanthimos discovered it yesterday.
But this stylization masks a lack of emotional clarity. A fizzy gown or harsh wax burns enhance the aesthetics while casting shadows on character depth.
❌ Themes: Thinly Disguised Cruelty
At its core, The Favourite is a power play in corsets—women manipulating power-shaped roles meant for men. Yet despite touching #MeToo-era relevance, critics accuse it of spitting into its own hands with “gut‑level anti‑feminism”—a cynical worldview that revels in female cruelty without offering insight or commentary .
It wants to be a critique of power, but it slides too easily into shock value. Rabbit scenes, severed metaphorical limbs, dramatic whispers—these are cheap emotional hijacks, not revelations.
👑 Was it Worth the Hype?
Despite sweeping awards—Olivia Colman’s Oscar and Lanthimos’s Venice crown —The Favourite feels like a peacock showing us its tail feathers before asking us to admire its scheming. It dazzles, but it doesn’t resonate.
The New Yorker described it as “darkly humorous,” yet it’s humor with nothing behind it . The consensus? It’s Weisz and Stone’s duel, clad in sumptuous designed madness—but left you watching a grand set collapse in slow-motion, with no deeper meaning.
💣 Final Word
Rating: 1.5 out of 5 gilded pincers—chic, cruel, but emotionally bankrupt.
If you’re craving a period piece steeped in intrigue, opt for Dangerous Liaisons or The Age of Innocence. The Favouritegives you plumes, poison, and perfectly polished cattiness—but zero warmth, zero stakes, and zero idea of how to make you feel.