film

For anyone unfortunate enough to have sat through this year's woeful Kinds of Kindness, seeing The Favourite again (or indeed for the first time) will be a welcome reminder of what a good Yorgos Lanthimos movie is like. Set in 18th-century England during the reign of Queen Anne, the last of the Stuart monarchs, The Favourite follows the intense struggle for power and favour between two women in the royal court: Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz), the Queen's close friend and political adviser, and her cousin Abigail Hill (Emma Stone), a newcomer seeking to rise in status.

Weisz and Stone's bravura performances are complemented by Olivia Colman's fantastic turn as the Queen, which led her to a Best Actress Academy Award, and the rest of us to the sheer joy of one of the most endearing and lovely Oscar acceptance speeches of all time.