The Favourite
The Favourite is a 2018 period black comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos from a screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara. A co-production between Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the film stars Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, and Rachel Weisz. Set in early 18th century Great Britain, it examines the relationship between cousins Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough and Abigail Hill as they vie to be court favourite of Queen Anne.
For other uses, see The Favorite (disambiguation).The Favourite
- Ceci Dempsey
- Ed Guiney
- Lee Magiday
- Yorgos Lanthimos
- Scarlet Films[1]
- Element Pictures[1]
- Arcana[1]
- Film4 Productions[1]
- Waypoint Entertainment[1]
120 minutes[3]
English
$15 million[5]
$95.9 million[6]
Principal photography for the production took place at Hatfield House in Hertfordshire and at Hampton Court Palace, lasting from March to May 2017. The film premiered on 30 August 2018 at the 75th Venice International Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for Colman. It was released theatrically in North America on 23 November 2018 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 January 2019. The film was a box office success, grossing $95 million worldwide on a $15 million budget.
The Favourite received widespread critical acclaim, with particular praise drawn to Lanthimos's direction, the screenplay and performances of the lead cast, and it won or was nominated for numerous awards, including ten Academy Award nominations, tying Roma for the most nominations of any film at that year's ceremony. It won ten British Independent Film Awards, seven BAFTA Awards, and eight European Film Awards, and Colman won Best Actress at each of those ceremonies, as well as the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, and others. The American Film Institute named The Favourite one of the top ten films of 2018 and since its release, it has been assessed as one of the best films of the 2010s and of the 21st century.[7][8]
Plot[edit]
In 1705 Great Britain is at war with France. Queen Anne is in poor health; she shows little interest in governing, preferring activities such as playing with her 17 rabbits, surrogates for the children she miscarried or who died in infancy. Her confidante, advisor, and furtive lover Sarah Churchill effectively rules the country through her influence over the Queen. Sarah's efforts to control Anne are undermined by Robert Harley, the Leader of the Opposition.
Abigail Hill, Sarah's impoverished younger cousin, arrives in search of employment. Her standing has been tainted by her father, who gambled her away in a game of whist. She is forced to do menial work as a scullery maid in the palace. After seeing the Queen's gout, Abigail forages for herbs for her. Sarah has Abigail whipped for entering the Queen's bedroom without permission but appoints her Lady of the Bedchamber after realising the herbs have helped the Queen. One night, Abigail witnesses Sarah and the Queen having sex. Harley asks Abigail to spy on Sarah and the Queen, hoping to circumvent Sarah's authority. Abigail refuses and tells Sarah, implying that she knows about their secret.
Abigail kindles a friendship with Anne that becomes sexual. Sarah finds out and unsuccessfully tries to remove her. Knowing she has gained a powerful enemy and desperate to be a lady again, Abigail reconsiders Harley's offer. She drugs Sarah's tea and Sarah awakens in a brothel. Anne, thinking Sarah has abandoned her, takes Abigail into her favour and allows her to marry Colonel Masham, thereby reinstating Abigail's noble standing as a Baroness. Abigail then helps Harley to influence the Queen's decisions about the war.
When Sarah returns, Abigail offers her a truce but is rejected. Sarah issues an ultimatum to Anne: change her stance on the war and send Abigail away or Sarah will disclose her correspondence with Anne that details their sexual relationship. Sarah, remorseful, burns the letters, but Anne nevertheless sends her away. Godolphin convinces Anne to mend her relationship with Sarah, persuading Sarah to send a letter that Anne eagerly awaits. When Abigail, who has been promoted to Keeper of the Privy Purse, presents "evidence" that Sarah had been embezzling money, Anne does not believe her. Sarah's letter arrives but is intercepted by Abigail, who burns it. Hurt that she did not receive the expected apology, Anne uses Abigail's claims about the embezzlement as an excuse to exile Sarah and her husband.
With Sarah gone and her position secure, Abigail begins to ignore Anne while indulging in society and openly having affairs. One day, she abuses one of Anne's rabbits. Anne, now very sick, sees what Abigail is doing, forces herself out of bed and angrily orders Abigail to kneel and massage her leg. She gradually pulls Abigail's hair as Abigail winces and begrudgingly massages her.
Production[edit]
Writing[edit]
Deborah Davis wrote the first draft of The Favourite in 1998. She had no prior screenwriting experience and studied screenwriting at night school. She took the first draft, which was titled The Balance of Power, to producer Ceci Dempsey, who responded enthusiastically.[9] Dempsey has said she was "haunted" by "the passion, the survival instincts of these women, the manipulations and what they did to survive."[10]
Before working on the screenplay, Davis had little knowledge of Queen Anne and her relationships with Sarah Churchill and Abigail Masham. She discovered a "female triangle" through her research, which included studying letters written by Queen Anne, Sarah, and Abigail, saying:
Release[edit]
In May 2017, the film's distribution rights were acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures.[14] It had its world premiere at the 75th Venice International Film Festival on 30 August 2018,[46][47] was screened the film at the BFI London Film Festival[21] and the Telluride Film Festival,[48][49] and was the opening-night film at the New York Film Festival.[50] The Favourite was given a limited theatrical release in the United States on 23 November 2018,[51][52][53] and was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on 1 January 2019.[54][55]
The film was released on Digital HD on 12 February 2019, and on Blu-ray and DVD on 5 March.[56]
Reception[edit]
Box office[edit]
The Favourite grossed $34.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $61.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide gross of $96 million.[6] Its opening weekend, the film grossed $422,410 from four theaters; its per-venue average of $105,603 was the best of 2018, beating Suspiria's $89,903.[57] The film made $1.1 million from 34 theaters its second weekend (a per-venue average of $32,500),[58] $1.4 million from 91 theaters its third weekend (which followed the announcement of the film's Golden Globe nominations), and $2.6 million from 439 theaters its fourth weekend.[59]
Its fifth weekend of release, The Favourite opened across the U.S., grossing $2.1 million from 790 theaters that weekend, and $2.4 million the next.[60][61] In the film's tenth week of release, which followed the announcement of its ten Oscar nominations, it was added to 1,023 theaters (for a total of 1,540) and made $2.5 million, an increase of 212% from the previous weekend.[62]