Once upon a time, in 1991, a beautiful princess imprisoned in a gilded prison realized the moment had come to flee. The movie is set in Sandringham, where Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart), has arrived for a three-day holiday break with her in-laws. Public suspicion about the state of her marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) is rife, and among the household's paparazzi skulking in the shrubbery, there's a lot of chatter.
The 31-year-old Stewart was tipped for an Oscar as soon as Spencer opened in Venice in September, and it's a deservedly stunning performance which I thought I would never say in this lifetime about Stewart (her performance in Twilight truly puts her on my Black list for years). From Diana's faltering speech to her coquettish downward looks and head tilts, Stewart nails the kind of surface elements that most biopics would take satisfaction in as goals in themselves. I have watched so many Diana documentaries and I'm a The Crown's die-hard fan, I can confirm Stewart portrayed Princess Di perfectly.
I'm told there's a dress to go with them. I'm told it's all set. You know, all set? As if everything's already happened.
Spencer is a film made in the vein of Larrain's 2016 drama Jackie in which Natalie Portman beautifully depicted Jackie Kennedy during the week following JFK's assassination. Jackie was a standout for me, and Spencer which likewise finds its woman facing a pivotal moment of truth and transformation is just as terrific, if not better.
Spencer is a small-scale speculative drama that sticks as close to the facts as possible. At the same time, the film has a poetic excess to it. Guy Hendrix Dyas' stunning production design transforms Sandringham's interiors into a whirlwind of textures that dance before our eyes - patterned drapes and gilded wallpaper, carved paneling, warm light from chandeliers, paintings and upholstery, mirrors and knickknacks. Jonny Greenwood's menacing jazzy score also appears to have a clear link to Diana's feelings. Also, Steven Knight's script produces its own enticing wit that isn't boring as people often talk about the Royal Family.
I'm prepared for my future as a face on coin to be passed from hand to hand.
Of course, no one forced Diana to join the Royal Family. She appears to be living the dream in the eyes of the rest of the world. But Spencer is a film that has the audacity and ingenuity to show Diana as the distinctive flesh-and-blood woman she was, and the film creates a kind of dream projection of her inner life.
Spencer doesn't get everything, and I often worried if the picture was so intent on defying expectations that it would alienate its viewers. But it depicts a sad story we all think we know in a new and genuinely unsettling light — of a tortured woman locked behind glass and in fear, fumbling for her independence and, like Anne Boleyn, fighting to keep her head.
SCORE: 4/5
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