Spencer - Review

In terms of Christmas movies, forget Shane Black setting all his films during the holiday season. Forget John McClane finding out that the same shit can happen to the same guy twice. The new festive tradition is a new Kristen Stewart movie where she is forced to spend an awkward Christmas with her partner’s family.

December, 1991. The marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at the Queen's Sandringham Estate. There's eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. But this year, things will be profoundly different. Spencer is an imagining of what might have happened during those few fateful days.

The film opens with the staff preparing the food for the Royal Family’s arrival. Led by Sean Harris’ head chef, a man on a mission to present a dish that the Princess will eat and enjoy. *Trigger warning - this film does contain several scenes which show her eating disorder in graphic detail*

Soon the family are there and ready to begin the festivities but there is someone conspicuous in her absence… Diana.

Her late arrival goes for Kristen Stewart as well. Not the obvious choice for playing England’s Rose, it takes a little bit of time to acclimate to the accent and mannerisms. However she soon disappears into the role and delivers a sensational performance. A revelation to anyone who only knows her from the Twilight films. Further confirmation of her considerable talent to those who have seen her in the likes of The Clouds Of Sils Maria, Personal Shopper and her underrated comic turn in Charlie’s Angels.

Diana is a woman broken and beaten down by the impossible situation she finds herself in and Stewart showcases her fragility but also a steeliness deep underneath. She also lights up in the scenes with her sons William and Harry. There the Princess disappears and Diana emerges from her enforced literal and metaphorical prison.

Sandringham is presented by Larrain as though it is the central location in a horror film. In many ways, it is like The Overlook Hotel. Haunted by the ghosts of its former residents (indeed Diana believes she is being visited by the ghost of Anne Boleyn), it is a cold, creepy place. There even seems to be something slightly off with the staff. Timothy Spall’s Major Gregory seems to know everything that goes on within the building and feels like the Overlook’s Grady. Designed to torment Diana and push her over the edge.

Jonny Greenwood’s score feels inspired by The Shining. Long ominous tones increase the sense of dread within the Palace. This is juxtaposed with a chaotic, jazzy cues that represent Diana’s increasingly erratic and temperamental behaviour.

This is the second film of a potential trilogy where writer-director Pablo Larrain looks through a specific window of a woman thrust into the public eye. First it was Jackie, now Diana. It is not hard to see why people are suggesting Britney as the final piece in the trilogy.

Watching the way that Diana is hounded by the press in public and subject to an insidious level of control within her own family, it is comparable to what is happened to Britney Spears at the hands of the paparazzi and her conservatorship.

She is provided with a selection of pre-approved outfits to wear and is scolded when wears her Boxing Day outfit on Christmas Day. Then there is the humiliating weigh-in on arrival which is “just a bit of fun” but another agonising symbol of control.

Spencer is a rare beast. A film about the monarchy that actually has you empathising with the main character even when their life at its worst is better than others at their best. Larrain and Stewart tap into the universality in the specific and create an engaging and empowering story of escape. After all, what is more relatable than wanting to escape from your family after a few days cooped up together over the holidays?

4 stars

Spencer is in cinemas now