‘The Favourite’ Trailer And Poster Thrust Royal Roundelay Into Awards Race

The latest trailer and poster for Fox Searchlight’s The Favourite offer a richer taste of the film’s three-way royal-court roundelay. The materials (see trailer above and poster below), plus rave reviews in Venice and Telluride, position Olivia Colman as a major awards contender.

Colman’s co-stars, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, are hardly newcomers to the Oscar dance. Stone won for Best Actress in 2017 for La La Land, after a 2015 Best Supporting Actress nomination for Birdman, while Weisz won for Best Supporting Actress in 2006 for The Constant Gardner.

A bawdy, acerbic tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy and betrayal, the historical drama bears Lanthimos’ unique signature combining dark comedy and social satire. The Favourite is set in the early 18th century when England is at war with the French. Even in wartime, however, duck racing and pineapple eating are thriving in the court. A frail Queen Anne (Colman) occupies the throne and her close friend, Lady Sarah (Weisz), governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper.

As Deadline’s Nancy Tartaglione reported last week, the film rode a wave of female-forward titles into Venice. Lanthimos said the story’s focus on three female characters suits the #MeToo era. “But what we tried to do is portray them as human beings,” he said. “Because of the prevalent male gaze in cinema, women are portrayed as housewives, girlfriends… Our small contribution is we’re just trying to show them as complex and wonderful and horrific as they are, like other human beings.”

Colman, meanwhile, embraced the film’s comedic sensibility, declaring it was “awfully fun having sex with Emma Stone,” a sentiment enthusiastically reciprocated by Stone.

Here’s the poster: