5 OF THE BEST

To anyone who saw , Olivia Colman’s ‘surprise’ Oscar win should be nothing of the sort. So many actors would have overdone the role of Queen Anne, an overweight, constantly sick, insecure and foolish head of state. Colman sees her comedy but also her cunning and the pain, both physical and mental, of a woman who has lost 17 children while having to be mother to her country. For anyone who didn’t and , is more accessible. His story of the two women, played by Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, battling for Anne’s favour and the power that goes with it, is told with his usual eccentricity but also more clarity that he typically opts for. It’s an extremely funny comedy about the ridiculousness of England’s class system, but shot through with tragedy that really hits home in its devastatingly lonely final shot.