The Favourite (2018)

The Favourite rating: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic

IMDb7.5/10· 257K votes

Rotten Tomatoes93%

Metacritic91%

TMDb7.5/10· 6K votes

With 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, backed by 7.5/10 on IMDb and 91/100 on Metacritic, critical reception of this film has been very positive.

About The Favourite

England, early 18th century. The close relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is threatened by the arrival of Sarah's cousin, Abigail Hill, resulting in a bitter rivalry between the two cousins to be the Queen's favourite.

Cast of The Favourite

• 

  Emma Stone

  as Abigail

• 

  Olivia Colman

  as Queen Anne

• 

  Rachel Weisz

  as Lady Sarah

• 

  Nicholas Hoult

  as Harley

• 

  Joe Alwyn

  as Masham

• 

  Mark Gatiss

  as Lord Marlborough

• 

  James Smith

  as Godolphin

• 

  Jenny Rainsford

  as Mae

• E

  Emma Delves

  as Queen's Maid

• 

  Faye Daveney

  as Sarah's Maid

• P

  Paul Swaine

  as Wanking Man

• J

  Jennifer White

  as Mrs. Meg

The Favourite facts

Budget

$15M

Box office

$95.9M

Our take on The Favourite

Yorgos Lanthimos's 2018 period piece sets its knives in early-eighteenth-century England, where the intimate bond between Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill is upended by the arrival of Sarah's ambitious cousin, Abigail Hill. The two women wage a caustic campaign to become the Queen's favourite, and the court becomes a stage for manipulation, wit and shifting power. Lanthimos brings his signature acid humour and off-kilter formalism to a story about vulnerability, control and who gets to survive at the top. It rewards viewers who savour barbed dialogue, moral murkiness and unconventional style over tidy costume drama. Cool, cruel and very funny, it lingers uncomfortably.