The Favourite
The Favourite is a 2018 period black comedy film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos and written 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. Principal photography 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 21st century.
- SARAH: What goes on? - GODOLPHIN: They've brokered a peace with the French, giving up too much, of course. Of course. Marlborough returns in a week. Harley will move to have him replaced. - Now that peace with France has been made... - [CROWD CHEERS] HARLEY: Marlborough's return back to England is imminent. I wonder, Your Majesty, whether it is right that he is left as head of our forces? I will rip his mole from his face. You must stop it, Godolphin. He is a hero who won the peace for us. Indeed, but he would have launched us into a bloody war that would have ruined us, so there's that. It would be easier to pull my strings if you were back at court. A new era of peace and prosperity, a new day, a door to a new future.
The Favourite
GODOLPHIN: Obviously, you have chosen to keep the particulars of your dismissal from me. I shall leave a gap in the conversation for you to remedy that. I do not know of women and their feelings, but I know they nurse their hurts like wailing newborns. Godolphin, I feel a surge of desire to see your nose broken. Your point?
The Favourite