<em>The Favourite </em>and the Chaotic Ways That Women Move

This story contains spoilers for the film The Favourite.

Yorgos Lanthimos’s 18th-century comedy-drama The Favourite, which collected a whopping 10 Oscar nominations on Tuesday, opens with a familiar tableau. Queen Anne, the reigning monarch of England (played by Olivia Colman), stands stock-still as her handmaidens unlatch a fur cloak. Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz)—the queen’s trusted friend, adviser, and lover—sits to the side and compliments her on a speech well delivered. The setting feels familiar, the characters well worn: Here is the monarch in her straight-backed splendor, and there is her sycophantic companion, prettily fawning.

But as Anne slips off her cloak, the timbre of the scene changes. The queen blindfolds Sarah and pushes her down a secret corridor that enjoins their rooms to surprise her with a gift. In the hallway, the duo stumble as they run, exuding a glee that feels girlish compared with their former composure. Their giggling dash shatters the staid formality often expected of, the three women fight to seize and maintain power through various forms of royal-court intrigue. But understanding what makes these characters so compelling and distinctive requires noticing exactly how they navigate the physical space around them—how they move and how they walk.