The Favourite (2018)

In the early 18th century England is at war with the French Queen Anne is extremely frail constantly ill and temperamental her closest ally is Sarah her childhood friend and advisor Sarah is measured and intelligent and helps Queen Anne make most of her war-time decisions. Meanwhile Sarah’s cousin Abigail arrives at The Queen’s estate via carriage She is shoved by another rider on the way out and falls into filth and when she enters the castle the maids play a trick on her and send her to meet her cousin smelling atrocious Abigail’s father has fallen from grace onto extremely hard times and Abigail is desperate for a job Unimpressed Sarah gives her a job downstairs where she shares a room with all the other maids and they start bullying her Robert Harley a politician is desperate to stop the war But Sidney Godolphin argues the opposite to The Queen insisting the fight must continue Sarah the one with the most power to influence Queen Anne’s opinion convinces Queen Anne to double the tax on the citizens to pay for the new phase of the war and Harley is furious One night Queen Anne has an extremely terrible case of gout and is screaming in pain Abigail steals a horse and goes out into the forest picking herbs to ease her pain While there she makes eye contact with the handsome Samuel Masham but plays coy then She lies her way into Queen’s chamber to apply her remedy but Sarah catches her and orders her to be lashed however when the remedy works Sarah stops the lashing after only a few hits and speaks with Abigail She’s impressed and takes on Abigail as her assistant With this promotion Abigail gets her own room away from the other maids Abigail reveals that previously her father had lost her in a bet to an old German man who she was forced to be with and she will do anything to get out of this life Abigail also coughs loudly in front of the Queen making sure to explain she caught a cold from picking her healing herbs At a grand party Harley tries to talk with the Queen about not continuing the war but can never get her out from under Sarah while at the same time Abigail sneaks into the Queen’s chambers to take books When Sarah has a dance with Masham Queen Anne grows agitated and demands Sarah take her back to her chambers Sarah’s husband John leaves to lead the ongoing battle in the war she is worried but resolved Over a round of shooting Abigail asks Sarah how she can be alright with her husband being in such grave danger? Sarah explains that she believes this is what is best for the country and she has prepared herself to pay the price she notes that Abigail understands this having given herself over to the German Harley approaches Abigail and asks her to spy on Sarah and the Queen also bring him anything she can to help him curry favor with the Queen Abigail declares that she’ll do no such thing and tells Sarah about it who is unfazed Sarah becomes busy with matters of state and making decisions and sends Abigail to socialize with and watch after Queen Anne Although Queen Anne at first is not interested in Abigail Abigail bonds with her by asking about her rabbits She has seventeen one for every child she’s lost and they spend more time together the next day Sarah hurls books at Abigail accusing her of being a schemer and fires her outright from the Queen’s service Abigail takes a book and bashes herself in the face with it until her nose is bloody then waits outside the Queen’s chambers and cries. The next day Sarah sees her still in Queen Anne’s employ Queen Anne tells Sarah she is not fired because she likes having her around The three travel together awkwardly Sarah takes Queen aside and tells her that is enough but the Queen refuses to fire Abigail Sensing Sarah and Queen Anne’s not-wavering bond Abigail meets with Harley and agrees to help him in exchange for a favor She wants to marry Masham who she has had a continuous flirtation with He promises to make it happen and Abigail tells him at parliament the Queen is going to double the tax and promises to get him meetings with the Queen unaccompanied by Sarah With that information he is able to ambush her before her speech he gives a rousing speech thanking her for not cutting the tax and ending the war and the room cheers Pressured by that the Queen faints unsure of what else to do Sarah knows someone must have gotten to Harley and set them up Abigail gets more herbs from the garden and poisons Sarah’s tea Sarah then goes out for a horseback ride and when the poison takes affect she passes out and is dragged violently by her horse out into the country The whole estate is concerned about her disappearance but the Queen suspects she might be faking it for attention and jealous of her getting close to Abigail With Sarah gone the Queen is easily influenced Harley lets her in on the fact that Abigail loves Masham and the Queen insists they be married after Abigail and Masham married Abigail and Harley also weaken The Queen’s resolve on the issue of the war Queen Anne also begins to worry that something serious may have happened to Sarah Sarah awakens in the brothel a massive scar on her cheek from her injuries She demands to be released and initially they refuse but she sends word to her contacts to bring money and finally is released When she returns she is appalled to see Abigail is married She slaps her across the face and then returns to her chamber and finds old secret letters from the Queen She goes to the Queen and tells her that she needs to continue the war double the tax and remove Abigail from her service and move her away from them and she tells her if she doesn’t she will release the secret letters to the press causing a huge scandal and the Queen is deeply betrayed Sarah Feels guilty about threatening the Queen so she burns the letters however she is quickly informed that she needs to return her keys to the Queen’s chambers and that she is being removed from the castle Sarah goes outside The Queen’s door and apologizes explaining she burned the letters but The Queen doesn’t acknowledge her and Sarah moves to a different estate With Sarah gone Abigail has free reign and spends her days partying with the high class and reluctantly tending to Queen Anne Queen Anne is beginning to falter on the issue of the war with Harley and Abigail constantly influencing her Sidney wonders if Sarah would have a different opinion but The Queen balks When he brings up the idea of Sarah sending her an apology she seems interested in the idea although acts like it doesn’t matter to her Sidney goes to Sarah and convinces her to mend fences with the Queen and write her a letter Sensing the Queen’s pining for Sarah Abigail lies and tells her that she’s looked at the books and it seems that Sarah and John were stealing from her but the Queen absolutely doesn’t believe her The Queen gets more and more upset waiting for the letter from Sarah It finally arrives at the estate but Abigail intercepts it and burns it Later Harley is trying to convince the Queen to remove John from the military Sidney is aghast since John just won for them But Queen Anne declares that John has been stealing from them and orders him removed and the war ended She insists that John and Sarah be banished Sarah and John are at home when troops arrive outside their place and she sees them out the window As the Queen sleeps in her chamber Abigail steps on one of the Queen's rabbits pressing down on it with her foot The Queen stirs and she lets the rabbit go she then orders Abigail to come to take care of her while Abigail feels as though she has got everything but ends up on her knees rubbing the Queen’s legs as the rabbits move around