Spencer

Spencer

During her Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, Diana decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.

  • Released: 2021-11-04
  • Runtime: 117 minutes
  • Genre: Drama, History
  • Stars: Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, Thomas Douglas, Olga Hellsing, Matthias Wolkowski, Oriana Gordon, Ryan Wichert, John Keogh, Amy Manson, Elizabeth Berrington, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Stella Gonet, Richard Sammel, Lore Stefanek, James Harkness, Laura Benson, Wendy Patterson, Libby Rodliffe, Niklas Kohrt
  • Director: Pablo Larraín
 Comments
  • Sanne_Mathiasen - 25 June 2024
    Great acting, less than mediocre movie and terrible score
    Kristen Stewart is one of my favorite actresses, and she did brilliantly, that in itself results in 1 star. The other actresses and actors in this movie were also very good.

    So 4 stars for the acting in the movie, they did fantastic with what they had to work with, but everything else makes it impossible to rate it any higher.

    The rest, and more than anything, the score, was really bad.

    The score makes the movie almost unwatchable. I had to turn down the sound constantly, to be able to get through the movie.

    But maybe the score was to cover for the lack of substance in the movie otherwise ... it did not work.

    4 stars are for movies I would actively avoid watching again, just because they are mindnumbingly bad.
  • LW-08854 - 26 December 2023
    A sad but beautiful film.
    After what I thought was quite a disappointing year of films in 2020 I'm so happy that films like this are now back. This reminds me why I love cinema so much. The film follows Diana Princess of Wales on her way to spend Christmas with the Royal Family at Sandringham in the year 1990. As the film begins Diana is lost, both literally and emotionally it seems, struggling to find her way there. Her lateness it's noted will not go unnoticed. This is the central threat/conflict of the film it seems. All eyes are now on Diana, her every action and choice has never been under greater scrutiny, every act is seen as an act of rebellion. The film favours a soft look, with slightly muted colours, a pastel colour palette. It's actually shot on film and looks so much better for that. It lacks that flat, smooth digital look so many films have shot digitally, it also helps give it that older look which works very well for this subject. The film is full of several types of unsettling music, lots of violin (maybe my favourite), if you've ever seen The Invisible Woman it's similar to that. There's also piano, and even organ music in one terrific scene. We also get a lot of jazz, often when Diana's mind is at it's most chaotic and upset. The cinematography is superb and assured, again often going for handheld when Diana is unsettled and upset. Smooth and assured when showing us the routines and grandeur of the royal grounds. The theme of food is quite a big one, food is both a threat to Diana and another means by which she's controlled. The film generally avoids a lot of direct verbal conflict, instead Diana is often reminded that nothing goes unheard in the house, a central point of conflict is rather private things Diana does or says somehow become known among the household. This helps increase that sense of loneliness and paranoia she's suffering from. There's talk of her being unstable and not thinking right, at the end even talk of a doctor being needed. This all leads back to the ghost of Anne Boleyn, another princess where it was deemed there was something wrong with her once she had fallen from favour. As well as food there's the underlying threat and fear of adultery, Diana fearful her husband has a mistress and knowing there's nothing she can do about it. Life around the Royals is very regimented, the kitchen is run like a military operation, under the stairs an army of kitchen staff quietly work away preparing the food she does not want to eat. I will say that the character of Prince Charles presented here is a real 3 dimensional character not the sulking 2 dimensional pantomime villain from the Crown. He actually has very few scenes but he's presented as already being distant and separate from Diana. There is long running argument over whether or not her two sons will join the hunting party on boxing day. The film is set over just 3 days but it's slow pace and repetition makes it feel a bit like groundhog day for the unhappy Diana. The film also isn't afraid to go beyond the literal, some scenes experiment with the surreal, things are not always what they seem. The grounds are almost literally though a kind of prison, police officers patrol the grounds at night, to keep an eye out for photographers, but also able to report anybody coming or going to. The end contrasts the formality and traditions of the 3 days of Christmas with something more modern, urban and yes normal. We also see the surprising number of costume changes Diana makes, 4 in one day for Christmas day it's said, everything is decided for her, right down to what she must wear and when. The film is also able to elicit real sympathy here for Prince William and Harry who are portrayed here as almost looking after their mother as much as she looks after them. It's a worrying and slightly troubling moment whenever they are together. It was shot by the cinematographer who did Portrait of a Lady on Fire, another gorgeously looking film, and again another film about a woman struggling to assert her own will against what's expected of her. In this Diana faces a constant battle, she's often scolded like a child by members of the royal house hold and we see the dread she faces every time she's reminded to leave her bedroom for a meal. It's a little more like a patient in a hospital. There's also a recurring theme Prince William and Harry finding their surroundings too cold for comfort.

    You'll have to make your own mind up about how much this is an anti-monarchist film or a pro-Diana attack on the Royal Family. The film doesn't get to much into what was actually said during the scenes of the Family gathered together, it's more the hundred little ways her judgement and sanity are constantly questioned and undermined. The film on the other hand could also be seen as the story of someone a little spoilt, deluded, uncompromising. The question of whether or not she could actually one day have been queen is tackled. It seems not, or at least not the kind of queen she'd be expected to be. She lambasts the Royal Family for being only able to see the past, and to live in the past as their present, yet it's her too though who's becomes fixated on an old coat left on a scarecrow, once her father's, she also becomes slightly obsessed with the idea of returning back to her childhood home. You have to ask if it might be her too then who wants to return back to her past, before she became the Princess of Wales. As the title of the film suggests, Spencer, here Diana is portrayed as wishing to reclaim her identity as Lady Diana Spencer, before she became a HHH Diana Princess of Wales. The film asks the viewer to believe that if she doesn't leave and leave now then her individuality and personality will eventually be crushed and she'll be forever miserable. Equally though many people in the UK have to do jobs they hate everyday, for little money, to live in squalor and poverty. Was what was being asked of her really so terrible? Isn't that just a sad reality of life that you spend a lot of time doing things you don't want to be doing? The idea we can just quit and everything will be fine is surely equally wrong?

    Spencer is also not afraid to get into the issues around her eating disorder, though these are generally quite well known about now. Diana spends much of the film lonely and troubled, but the lack of love she feels is challenged at the end though when's reminded by many characters of the huge amount of public support and adoration that exists for her. There's a lovely scene too of her in flashbacks of a young lady who loved to run and dance and be free and spontaneous, something she is able to reclaim as the film reaches it's emotional climax.

    Not only does the film have a superb script, soundtrack and cinematography but the props, costumes, makeup and sets are also superb. You feel like this is a real location, staffed by an army of servants, full of lavish furnishings and so on. The lead performance by Kirsten Stewart is also very praiseworthy.

    The film is covered in delightful little moments too, every part of the film has some extra depth or meaning to it. A royal tradition first introduced by Prince Albert we are told is that all guests coming for Christmas must be weighed as they arrive and then again 3 days after leaving, putting on weight being a sign they have enjoyed their Christmas stay. Of course for Diana already obsessed with her weight this is a nightmare for her. She rebels against tradition time and time again. Near the start of the film to the royal family's horror she arrives late rambling about how she wants the staff to repair an old coat on a scarecrow she stopped to collect, it does seem quite odd. Seen from Diana's perspective though it's a natural request to retrieve something very dear to her childhood. The production design is truly excellent, everything looks very lavish and the size of the house, the ceilings, the curtains look spectacular and overwhelming, again emphasising their power as almost oppressive towards Diana.
  • catnapbc - 4 June 2023
    Four stars for the period details and scenery
    0 for the 'story' (interpretation) and the caricatures of the people involved. Minus 100 for the overwhelming and obnoxious 'music' who ch thankfully I could and did mute since I had a subtitled dvd from our library. Not sure what constitutes an Oscar performance but I think this is more in tune with an award for mimicry. For those intense Diana fans who are appalled by this portrayal, it might be good to remember that this very naive and unprepared (for becoming part of The Firm) young woman was way in over her head and still seemed to believe in fairy tales. The psychology and broken personality of this very human being will be discussed ad nauseam forever, like who really killed JFK and her, for the conspiracy fans. This movie was just trying too hard to be 'artsy' and 'deep' but instead it comes across as a schizophrenic mixture of horror film, cartoon and just plain noise. Not a movie that will actually appeal (if that is even possible) to many, and certainly does nothing to help understand or evaluate the very suffocating and rigid life that these 'royals' endure daily. Even the hardiest personality would eventually succumb to the rules and archaic rituals and Diana was clearly never truly supported nor even understood as a real individual. It's fiction and badly done at that.
  • mylittleeyeballs - 14 November 2022
    Exquisitely Fanomanal
    You have to take this film seriously and with pure maturity. The acting is absolutely fantastic from Kristen Stewart, her features are just like Princess Diana's so so much it's incredible. I'm not a royalist fan I have to say but my much more respect and love goes more out towards Princess Diana's side and Prince Harry and Prince William. Well Done Kristen Stewart and the rest of the cast and crew. It's amazing how an American actress can put on such a posh English accent on just to act on set and remembering all this script as well. I hope this film got awards last year and this year and upcoming years aswell. Well done everyone on the film on Spencer.
  • wackoreviews - 5 October 2022
    Hit and miss
    Spencer:

    The marriage between 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 estate. There's eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game, but this year, things will be profoundly different.

    The movie had a very slow build up, as not even a slightly significant event happened in the first 15 minutes. To really understand and enjoy this movie, you need to have a lot of prior knowledge to Diana's story, otherwise you'll just be looking at a woman running down a big house for 2 hours. Now you would definitely sympathize with her even though you know nothing about her, but that doesn't mean you would want to stick to watching her for the whole movie.

    Visually, Kristen is the perfect cast for Diana, specially since she looks very similar to her. However, acting wise, although she was nominated for the Academy Award's best performance by an actress in a leading role, for a moment it felt like she was over acting. Whether this was her decision or the director's, it is merely a minor letdown in her incredible performance.

    The score was really good and fitting, and the visuals were very appealing.

    Spencer is one of the best psychological dramas, but it does have some flaws as a biography.

    Score:7/10.
  • bertiee - 10 September 2022
    Made for Americans, by Americans
    Rubbish, so slow and dull. Horrifically inaccurate.

    Clearly made for Americans, by Americans.

    Couldn't watch past 25 minutes. I would love to know who ChriStu knows to be cast as Diana. Her mouth was agape for the entirety of the half an hour I watched. Her accent was all over the place. This film was a B-tech Crown with none of the historical accuracy, casting, or charm. It really misses the mark. Are we meant to sympathise with the protagonist? Characterisation is all over the place, dialogue was also absolutely dire and the pacing made no sense. The marketing budget must have been astronomical, but a better editor may have been more lucrative in the long run. I felt like that dead road pheasant after watching half and hour of this.