THE FAVOURITE is a social satire on the royal court of 18^th Century England with a feminist bent. It’s also an indictment on the patriarchy. It’s a story of women trapped in this brutal system, forcing them into a perpetual cycle of ruthless pursuit of power. The female characters in this movie are entertaining and compelling, but also despicable. And that is precisely the point. Women can’t flourish in an oppressive society where only powerful men and the depraved survive.

The film is set during the reign of Queen Anne, a monarch in steep decline. She is irrational, depressed, suffering from gout and in overall poor health. Lady Sarah (played brilliantly by Rachel Weisz) is her confidant and lover. She is also a power player and advises Queen Anne in all matters of state. Her cousin Abigail arrives on the scene and that is where the the royal intrigue ensues.

The film features two women in a fascinating and dynamic power struggle where they must compete for the sexual desire and affection of an unstable Queen. Lady Sarah and Abigail may be cousins, but they hail from very different stations in life. Lady Sarah is Duchess of Marlborough and lives on the royal grounds, clearly a woman in charge as she manages both a war and issues of finance and taxes. Her cousin Abigail arrives at the court desperately seeking employment. Abigail has fallen into decline. She comes from a pedigreed background but must contend with reduced circumstances after her father gambles her away in a card game. With no father, husband or powerful connections to protect her, she must fend for herself. She is not entirely responsible for what she becomes.

Abigail is perhaps the most compelling of all three leading female roles as it’s is her pursuit of reversing her declining fortunes that drives the story. Over the course of the film she grows more ruthless and her actions more extreme, but fueled by the strong screenplay and performance from Emma Stone, we have empathy for her plight. To obtain access to the Queen, she shows tremendous savvy. She discovers herbs that will soothe her legs. Lady Sarah initially punishes her for this act of presumption by slapping her. We are led to believe that Abigail is the more sympathetic, the more vulnerable of the two women. But the herbs had the desired effect and Abigail is appointed lady of the bedchamber. Her new position gives her access to the Queen and she soon discovers the lesbian relationship between Anne and Sarah. Abigail, previously forced into marriage to an abusive man, sees a new opportunity to advance herself. The Queens orders her “to rub my legs” and the two women become lovers. Abigail has gone from a harsh life of degradation to a more gentile life of exploitation. As long as she continues to rub the Queen’s legs, she will be fine.

But the women in THE FAVOURITE are complicated and Abigail becomes an increasingly detestable character as her actions grow more audacious, even violent. An interesting shift of power occurs as the film progresses. Lady Sarah becomes the more reasonable character, the adult in the room, the one the audience respects. Her relationship with the Queen may be a power play for herself, but at least she genuinely seems to care for both the Queen’s well-being and the Kingdom. After Lady Sarah is nearly poisoned by Abigail, Lady Sarah wakes up in a brothel, giving us another glimpse of the life of degradation that too many women in that society found themselves with little chance of escape. Lady Sarah, perhaps because of her lofty position in life, manages to free herself and returns to the court. She informs Abigail that she was in hell and warns her it’s a place Abigail will undoubtedly visit soon. And sure enough, Abigail subsequently begins her own descent.

Abigail is married to a man she does not love nor desires, but his position as a baron in the court now gives her nobility as a baroness. When she first meets her husband, she asks him, “Are you here to seduce me or rape me?” When he replies that he is a gentleman, she responds, “Then it is rape.” On her wedding night, Abigail must sexually satisfy her husband and does so in a manner that couldn’t be more disinterested or detached. It is an amusing scene to which many women can probably relate. In SALON, ERIN KEANE, details why Emma Stone should win an Oscar for this scene alone. For the rest of her life where she will be passed between a husband she doesn’t love and a Queen who has only contempt for her.

Abigail easily surrenders to the decadence of court life, attending lavish, indulgent parties. Nevertheless, she is indeed now in Hell. A cynic might label it a hell of her own making, but there remains empathy for this character who only wanted to elevate herself to her original position in life, deprived her courtesy of the the recklessness of her father-the one man in her life who was obliged by the rules of the patriarchal society to protect her.

Lady Sarah is the triumphant one at the end. She is banished from the court, she and her husband sent to exile, but she is the victor because she is free. Freed from the restrictions of this rigid and cruel world, she has achieved a measure of peace. Among her last words to Abigail, “Oh my God, you think you have won. We are playing a very different game.”

The final images of Abigail are unforgettable. Her behavior borders on sadism. Once abused, she now seeks to abuse others. She is a woman in a perpetual decline no matter if she stays on at the court or returns to an abusive ex-husband. She nearly crushes a rabbit under her foot, apparently relishing in its distress. The domineering Queen then gives her the familiar command “to rub my legs.” The look of resignation and barely contained disgust plays out on her face as she now must accept her fate to a life of royal hell. Her enviable position in that society is a mere facade. By movie’s end, she is no better off than from her opening scene when she arrives at the court. She is not entirely to blame as her gender and circumstances brought her to this ruin. The film has a relevancy in the contemporary world that provides an important discussion because when life doesn’t present us with much in the way of opportunity, we grasp what we can-a theme that in the real world is distressingly played out time and time again.

~Amy