A royal triangle with claws out, silk gloves on. With “The Favourite”, Yorgos Lanthimos took the period drama everyone thinks they know and twisted it into something bracing, modern, wickedly funny. The film follows the tug of power around Queen Anne, where intimacy becomes policy, and a whispered aside can topple a courtier faster than a cannon.
Here is the quick answer many seek when searching “Yorgos Lanthimos La Favorite” : it is the director’s acclaimed 2018 English language drama “The Favourite”, starring Olivia Colman as Queen Anne, Rachel Weisz as Sarah Churchill and Emma Stone as Abigail Masham. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival on 30 August 2018, won the Grand Jury Prize there, later earned 10 Oscar nominations, and gave Olivia Colman the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2019.
Yorgos Lanthimos and “The Favourite” at a glance
Lanthimos, known for sharp social fables, landed in the British court of the early 1700s with a simple observation that still stings today: ambition and affection often ride in the same carriage. That is the main idea, and it solves a common problem with costume films that feel distant. Here, the stakes are painfully close.
The film was written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, shot by Robbie Ryan on 35 mm using natural light and candles, and filmed largely in English stately homes such as Hatfield House and Hampton Court Palace. The look is tactile. Floors creak, wigs itch, the camera swings as if eavesdropping along corridors. Music leans on Baroque pieces that snap the tempo forward.
Release timeline matters. “The Favourite” opened in the United States on 23 November 2018 via Fox Searchlight, then reached the United Kingdom on 1 January 2019. By the end of its run, according to Box Office Mojo, it grossed about 95.9 million dollars worldwide on a production budget reported at roughly 15 million dollars.
Cast, story and the thorny triangle around Queen Anne
Olivia Colman plays Queen Anne with wit and a haunting fragility. Rachel Weisz embodies Sarah Churchill, the closest adviser, a strategist whose confidence fills the room before she enters it. Emma Stone arrives as Abigail Masham, cousin to Sarah, apparently meek, bright as flint.
The story tracks allegiances that shift meal by meal. Sarah steers the country during war while managing the queen’s mood. Abigail tends to a bad ankle, then a wound to pride, then discovers a route to influence that bypasses every locked door. The dialogue snaps. The power games bite. No need to overexplain, the scenes do the job.
What viewers often trip on are the visual tactics. Those wide, sometimes fisheye frames have a purpose, stretching rooms to expose distance between faces that pretend to be close. Candlelit scenes are not just pretty, they force shadows to reveal what the court cannot say. Wardrobe, by Sandy Powell, runs the spectrum from hunting boots to towering silks designed to accomodate the candlelit palette.
Awards and numbers that shaped the impact
Venice came first. The film won the Grand Jury Prize and Olivia Colman received the Volpi Cup for Best Actress on 8 September 2018, per La Biennale di Venezia records. That momentum carried into awards season.
At the 91st Academy Awards in February 2019, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences listed 10 nominations for “The Favourite” and one win, Best Actress for Olivia Colman. It tied with “Roma” for the most nominations that year.
At the 72nd British Academy Film Awards the same month, BAFTA reported 12 nominations and 7 wins, including Outstanding British Film. Box office held steady as word of mouth grew. Domestic receipts in the United States climbed above 34 million dollars, with international markets delivering the remaining share to reach that near 96 million total, Box Office Mojo data shows.
Critical reception matched the awards haul. Rotten Tomatoes reports a critics approval rating above 90 percent and Metacritic lists a score around 90 out of 100 for universal acclaim. The figures may update slightly over time, but the critical consensus stayed strikingly high.
Where “The Favourite” sits in the Lanthimos timeline
Before this film, Yorgos Lanthimos built a reputation with offbeat dramas like “Dogtooth” in 2009 and “The Lobster” in 2015. “The Favourite” marked a bigger canvas, a larger ensemble, and a historical setting that kept his strange electricity intact while widening the audience.
The cast outcome mattered beyond awards. Olivia Colman’s performance as Anne expanded her profile globally. Rachel Weisz added a needle sharp supporting turn to an already loaded filmography. Emma Stone took the energy of a modern star and slipped it into a powdered world without noise.
Then came a new chapter. In 2023, at the 80th Venice Film Festival, Lanthimos returned with “Poor Things”, which won the Golden Lion. That arc gives context to “The Favourite” today. The period intrigue was not a detour, it was a foundation.
For clarity, here are the essentials that searchers keep asking for, in one place :
- Premiere : Venice, 30 August 2018, Grand Jury Prize and Volpi Cup for Olivia Colman
- US release : 23 November 2018, UK release : 1 January 2019
- Awards : 10 Oscar nominations, 1 win for Best Actress; 12 BAFTA nominations, 7 wins
- Box office : about 95.9 million dollars worldwide on a 15 million dollar budget
- Cast and crew : Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, screenplay by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, cinematography by Robbie Ryan
The missing piece for some is access. “The Favourite” is available on Blu ray and digital purchase in most markets, with streaming availability rotating by region and rights. That makes the film easy to revisit when the mood calls for a courtly whisper that hits like a drum.