2018 film by Yorgos Lanthimos
The Favourite is a 2018 satirical absurdist period dark comedy art 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, it 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, who will become Baroness Masham as the action progresses, as they vie to be court favourite of Anne, Queen of Great Britain.
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 the United States on 23 November 2018 by Fox Searchlight Pictures, and in Ireland and the United Kingdom on 1 January 2019. The film was a box office success, grossing $96 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 Colman, Weisz and Stone, 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.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.