It’s hard to be too upset about The Favourite, but also The Favourite was robbed.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite was nominated for ten Oscars at the 91st Academy Awards and won just one, Lead Actress for Olivia Colman. Colman’s win was a huge and wonderful upset over the presumed, um, favorite, Glenn Close — herself an upset a month ago at the Golden Globes.
In the losses column, The Favourite missed out on Costume Design and Production Design, which went to Black Panther, and Cinematography to Roma. Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone lost Supporting Actress to Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk). Lanthimos, who will no doubt be back, lost Best Director to Alfonso Cuaron for Roma. All of these are acceptable, understandable even. Was The Favourite worthy in any of those categories? Absolutely. Did the Academy also get it right with the winners? Yes.
Some other categories, though, are harder to swallow. Bohemian Rhapsody winning Film Editing over The Favourite is a well-documented example of collective insanity. Green Book winning Best Original Screenplay was upsetting for multiple reasons, but not as upsetting as its Best Picture victory. The Favourite taking home the top prize would have been indeed a coup, but that doesn’t excuse the Academy giving it to the fifth or sixth best movie in the category.
The Favourite is stunning and lush. It’s a period piece that feel wonderfully modern, weird and seductive and petty and queer as hell. It’s a tale of manipulation and genuine affection that doesn’t let historical accuracy stand in the way of a Soul Train line, but it also tells a story that is absolutely true. The score — those strings! — is thrilling. All three leads are mesmerizing, enchanting and despicable, often all at once. And make no mistake, they were really all leads, even though, as Weisz put it, Colman was their queen and their natural choice for the top award category. With The Lobster and The Sacred of a Killing Deer in his oeuvre, Lanthimos is cultivating a distinct style, with an eye for composition, affinity for the strange and a strength for bringing career-best performances out his actors and actresses.
Over the course of this award season, Colman was the only one the stateside voting bodies felt compelled to acknowledge. (The film did clean up at the BAFTAs, taking home seven including Outstanding British Film, Lead Actress, Supporting Actress for Weisz, Original Screenplay and Makeup/Hair.) Colman won Lead Actress in a Drama at the Golden Globes as well, though it was nominated in a total five categories before its ten Oscar nominations.
So it seems The Favourite’s destiny is to be a robbed classic. It will be in good company, but that doesn’t make the snubs sting any less.