Three strong performances make The Favourite worth watching

The 2018 film from Greek director Yurgos Lanthimose, The Favourite, is in some ways typical of the palace-intrigue drama, a staple of so many British films and TV series (e.g. The Crown), with the couriers vying and plotting for the attention, support, and favor of the sometimes elusive or mercurial monarch. What's new and different here is that it's about the brief reign of Queen Anne, in the early 18th century, one of the less competent among all the monarchs - and this film in itself is enough to make us recognize that the Restoration was a huge mistake. The other unusual facet here is the frank treatment of the lesbian relationships among the Queen (Olivia Colman) and two aides: her closest advisor (Rachel Weisz) and a young woman, Abigail (Emma Stone) from the landed gentry who'd fallen on hard times, was dumped at the castle gates and put to work in the scullery - but because of her ambition (and, to be honest, her lineage) rises up to b in charge of the "bedchamber" and a sexual rival to Weisz, eventually displacing her from the Queen's favor. You can see that this is in part a monarchical version of A Star Is Born. All three women are really fine in their roles, which makes me think the Academy should have an "ensemble" award - Colman may be the best of the 3 but not by much and it's hard to see her role as "leading" (Stone's really is the lead I think). Overall, this is an exceptionally dark picture of the royal court, with not a single likable or sympathetic character among the crew. Lanthimose does a reasonably good job moving the plot along, creating a few really good scenes of tension (Stone and Weisz shooting birds, Stone wrestling with a young courtier who's trying to rape her) but the movie is marred by a # of quirks, such as a weird fascination w/ typography for intertitles and for the closing credits (which are essentially unreadable - what's the point of that!) and the fish-eye camera lens for long interior shots - he's like a kid who just got a new toy for his iPhone and can't lay off it. The score is kind of a muddle, with a lot of music suitable to the period and some music about 150 years ahead of the setting; go figure. It's a film probably worth seeing for the fine performances of the 3 leads, but it's hardly a gripping narrative, especially at 2 hours.