The Favourite

It's a dark view, but dark views, like sunny views, have to come from somewhere. Where is Lanthimos's dark sun? I don't know, but I'll definitely keep watching.

Yorgos Lanthimos' dryly funny historical feature is all about power, and that means literally wearing the pants in a strange time.

In the end, The Favourite is a haunting reminder of the limits of control.

Pushes the idea of the capricious monarch through the far reaches of comedy and almost into tragedy. Colman embodies sublimely the punch-drunk confusion of a woman unsure whether she's child or adult, plaything or puppet-master.

Weisz and Stone are both brilliantly witty and nimble, but Colman's performance is nothing short of sublime.

This is The Crown like you've never seen it before.

The most interesting proposal of The Favourite is the change of socially imposed roles regarding gender, here these canonical mandates are transgressed and inverted. While the men flirt and use makeup, the women have the real power.

Yorgos Lanthimos defies expectations and gives us a slow-burning analysis of politics and power dynamics that might be set in the 18th Century but couldn’t be more relevant to our day and age.

Technically, The Favourite is undoubtedly one of the best movies of 2018. The impressive production and set design plus the addictive score definitely elevate the film, but the costume design tells a whole story through what the characters wear.

The Favourite is yet another triumph from one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary cinema.