SPOILERS DOWN THE PATH; THE DISCUSSION BELOW WILL NOT BE COMPREHENSIVE WITHOUT IT.
TREAD CAREFULLY. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
The Favourite is Yorgos Lanthimos' first theatrical film that he only directed but didn't actually write. Due to this, it's evident from the movie that the filmmaker's quirky oddness usually present in the script's DNA itself was missing, nevertheless worry not as Lanthimos has, yet again, made a compelling motion picture!
Taking place in 1700s Britain, this period-dramedy narrates the tale of two cousins and their respective relationships with the Queen. Sarah (Rachel Weisz) is the closest confidante, or more appropriately, the puppet master of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman). She has enormous influence on the ruler ranging from professional to private matters. In the midst of this manipulative relationship, comes along a house servant named Abigail (Emma Stone) who claims to be Sarah's cousin. Hereon after, you're in for one hell of a tug of war with the both women viciously vying for the Queen's ownership!
You could clearly see the effort that went behind crafting the screenplay. The writers knew the power of revelations and leveraged on it effectively! Intimacy between Sarah and the Queen is an example. On the filmmaking end, Lanthimos knew how to deliver these moments of surprise in a totally abrupt and shocking manner. Gunshot threat and Abigail kicked down the slope are some of the instances. The balance between comedy and drama was perfect, physical manifestations of characters' inherent function, for example the Queen being immobile and unable to move by herself were done right and repetitions of a similar type of event like the bird-shooting activity between Sarah and Abigail to show concurrent relationship status was an absolute basic screenwriting tool that never fails to amaze as magic!
Most importantly, all three lead characters were memorable as they had their own complete arcs. Sarah became powerless after being the kingmaker, Abigail regained her status as a Lady and the Queen's finally able to cut the strings off her top. While Abigail's relationship with the Queen seemed more empowering than controlling at first, we soon realize she's the new Sarah, as does the Queen who reclaims her full authority, preventing a similar situation from ever happening again.
Rachel Weisz's performance emitted danger! She was truly intimidating and authoritative! Olivia Colman did a great job as the clingy, weak, unstable, grumpy, unhappy and lonely Queen whose world revolved around Sarah. Technically, the film is a stellar piece of work! Realistic extravagance present in the production design and costume creation is highly commendable! The score was prominent and the sound editing was noteworthy. Do watch out for the creative imitation of production company logos' title music utilizing nature's sound effects! Justified typography was a good choice. If there's anything to complain about, it's definitely the overused fish-eye camera lens. Whenever said lens appeared, it immediately gave the impression of watching a gimmick, detaching us away from the viewing experience - but who knows, this may have been the purpose after all!