Spencer
During her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.
- Released: 2021-11-04
- Runtime: 117 minutes
- Genre: Drama, History
- Stars: Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, Thomas Douglas, Olga Hellsing, Matthias Wolkowski, Oriana Gordon, Ryan Wichert, John Keogh, Amy Manson, Elizabeth Berrington, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Richard Sammel, Lore Stefanek, James Harkness, Laura Benson, Wendy Patterson, Libby Rodliffe, Niklas Kohrt
- Director: Pablo Larraín
Comments
- lazomelinda - 25 June 2024
Garbage
This movie is an absolute piece of garbage!! Terrible casting, terrible script, not a single positive about it. Dreadful. How someone can write such garbage about someone's life and pass it off as a biographical film is a joke. She is portrayed as unhinged and insane. This does not mention all the good she did throughout her struggles within that institution, it is a gross representation of her life and an insult to her memory and to her legacy. Shame on all involved in writing this crap and to all those involved. Utter garbage and I regret watching this crap and the fact I cannot unsee it upsets me greatly. - MattyLuke-81663 - 24 November 2023
"Will they kill me, do you think?"
Don't go into 'Spencer' expecting an ordinary little biopic about Princess Diana. Nope, this is a straight-up psychological art house horror thriller. 'Spencer' brilliantly captures the feeling of dread in an isolated foreign space surrounded by strangers. The royal family themselves are freaking creepy, always watching, always judging.
I must be honest, I wasn't a big fan of Kristen Stewart's recent work, as it never wowed me, and I wasn't convinced that she's improved since Twilight. But man, she's fantastic in this movie and it's one of her best performances to date. Stewart manages to portray Princess Diana in a new light that we haven't really seen before. In my opinion, her other movies failed to show her versatility as an actor, and I fully believe this movie did her justice. I'm just glad this movie won me over.
On the other hand, Timothy Spall is excellent in this movie and another stand-out performance. If you are aware of Spall as an actor, then this isn't surprising news, but I feel it needs repeating. I found him very eerie and overbearing. He plays a man with an eagle eye; he watches everything and everyone in the royal family at Sandringham House.
The major thing that this movie made me realise is that in Diana's life, it's the people that kept her mentally and emotionally grounded. Her two sons, her assistant (Sally Hawkins, who is very good in the small scenes she has), and the chef played by Sean Harris, who is someone you would not think of as being important.
Sean Harris is a very underrated actor that I wish people talked about more. Harris is known for playing sinister roles, but here I thought he was really sweet and showed a softer side. He's got an interesting-sounding voice as well.
Jack Farthing as Prince Charles does a great job playing a slimy over-privileged Prince. Stella Gonet as the Queen who I found really unsettling, especially her dagger eyes.
There's one scene at the dinner table with the other royal family that is one of the most intense things ever. It was anxiety level stress that made my heart racing. All thanks to Pablo Larraín claustrophobic and unique directing. Complimented by Johnny Greenwood's atmospheric, free-flowing, and tense score.
While I know that certain elements of the movie are fiction, then again, the movie begins with a title card "based on a tragic fable" and I feel like the movie is playing into the nightmarish fair tale of an iconic figure in history. Diana's life in royalty was no fairy tale, but a Brothers Grimm tale.
Overall rating: The movie has metaphors for ghosts, ghosts of the past, and ghosts of old traditions. People who follow tradition aren't too kind to rarity. Great movie.
