The Favourite: the three main characters at the center of Yorgos Lanthimos’ film are very nasty, unpleasant human beings (as a matter of fact, there’s not a virtuous, “good” character in sight), but their interactions and power games are, undoubtedly, delicious. So much so that the film suffers when this triangle of sorts is broken. The dialogue, acid and hilarious, is very well-handled by the cast. Olivia Colman is fabulous: her character is a fragile woman-child, one that holds the last word anytime she wants; she navigates the many changes of mood very convincingly. Her co-stars are nearly as good: Emma Stone has a higher comedic wattage, but both her and Rachel Weisz, whose character commands the driest of burning wit, create strong, no-nonsense characters, and they play wonderfully off each other. The film’s look (Sandy Powell’s costume design, Fiona Crombie’s production design) are expectedly lavish, but captured in a somewhat unique, very off-putting and interesting way by cinematographer Robbie Ryan (who uses ultra-wide lenses, pans, whips, low-angle composition, among others, all to create some sense of unease). The same goes for the use of music at times.