Spencer

 

Spencer is an eccentric view of Princess Diana’s last Christmas with the Windsor’s before she made the choice to file for divorce from Charles, Prince of Wales. This psychological drama stars Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing, Sean Harris and Sally Hawkins.

This is the second historical drama of a well-respected woman that director Pablo Larrain has taken on; it’s predecessor being 2017’s Jackie. I think that in Spencer liberties were definitely taken in the story but through this exaggerated lens you could really understand Diana’s desire for control in her life, you could also see her paranoia, depression, isolation and loneliness, some of which did come out as accurate later down the line.

The film was very artsy and utilized the classical score as a way to evoke the range of emotions that Diana was going though which I thought was clever. The plot was interesting and the 90s hair, makeup and costumes were beautiful and spot on. Especially those of Diana’s. There was a regal and vintage feel to everything she wore.

Stewarts portrayal of Diana is being deemed Oscar worthy. I’m not sure I would go that far but she did nail down the accent and was able to portray an interesting, more psychotic version of Diana. Jack Farthing is not my favorite Charles, Prince of Wales. He didn’t really give me the typical look nor did he sound like him. He also came off more stoic and cold than previous portrayals of him. The lack of dialogue didn’t help either. I recognized Timothy Spall who played the fictional Equerry Major Alistair Gregory from his role as Wormtail in the Harry Potter franchise. I was interesting to see him excel in something completely different than was I was used to seeing him as.

The character development for the most part just centered on Diana, even Queen Elizabeth was more of a background figure. If nothing else, I wish they would have done some further development with her children, William and Harry, and with Charles.

Although I wouldn’t call Spencer a “masterpiece” as some are saying, I did think it was well acted and thought provoking.