A wickedly dark period romp filmed in Hatfield is already among the Oscars favourites after winning two prizes at the Venice Film Festival.
The Favourite was shot on location at Hatfield House last year.
And even before the movie’s UK premiere, there’s an Oscars buzz about Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest movie.
Starring Olivia Colman, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, The Favourite won the Grand Jury Prize at the 75th Venice Film Festival.
Broadchurch star Olivia Colman, who plays a mad Queen Anne in The Favourite, also picked up the Best Actress award in Venice, Italy, today (Saturday).
After its double in Venice, The Favourite is expected to be in Oscars contention come Academy Awards season.
The Favourite is a riotous tale of rivalry in Queen Anne’s court in 18th century England, with Olivia Colman, La La Land’s Emma Stone with an English accent, and Rachel Weisz playing the three main characters.
The production was filmed in the grounds of Queen Elizabeth I’s childhood home in Hatfield last spring, with scenes shot inside Lord Salisbury’s Hertfordshire stately home and in the Jacobean mansion’s beautiful gardens.
A frail and bonkers Queen Anne, played by Olivia Colman, occupies the throne and her close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) governs the country in her stead while tending to Anne’s ill health and mercurial temper.
When a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) arrives, her charm endears her to Sarah.
Watch The Favourite trailer for the scene where Abigail gets thrown out of a horse-drawn carriage as it approaches the South Front of Hatfield House and Stone’s character lands in some mud.
Sarah takes Abigail under her wing, and Abigail sees a chance at a return to her aristocratic roots.
As the politics of war become quite time consuming for Sarah, Abigail steps into the breach to fill in as the Queen’s companion.
And she spots a chance to fulfil her ambitions after growing very close to the Queen.
Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara, The Favourite also stars Nicholas Hoult, Joe Alwyn and Mark Gatiss.
The Favourite opens in the UK in January.
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