Some partnerships are just matches made in heaven. Batman and Robin, Lennon and McCartney, and fish and chips are all iconic combinations but personally, my dream duo are masters of the silver screen. Emma Stone and director Yorgos Lanthimos.
Their latest collaboration Poor Things is currently in (or, in the UK, about to hit) cinemas and looks certain for a host of Oscar nominations. But if you need another dose of darkly funny drama, you need to look no further than one of the best streaming services, Netflix.
That's because the service is set to add The Favourite on January 23rd which has the aforementioned dream team involved. Starring a trio of excellent women, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz and Olivia Coleman, each was Oscar-nominated for their work in this 2018 flick with Coleman scooping the Best Actress gong.
Coleman plays an ailing Queen Anne, struggling with her health. a war with France and likely her sanity. Her most trusted advisor (Weisz) is effectively using her for personal benefit, but when the queen takes a fancy to lowly scullery maid Abigail (Stone) a war for the monarch's affections breaks out. On top of that, the leader of the opposition (Nicholas Hoult) is determined to cause as much trouble as possible in parliament. It might sound like a political drama but it's very much more accessible than that.
Instead The Favourite is a superbly dark and dry comedy drama that I've never seen emulated (not outside of Lnathimos'other movies at least). It's stylish yes, but never obnoxiously so. In all honesty, I can't think of a reason not to watch this movie (other than your family being in the room). Lanthimos is the master of all things weird and this is arguably his best film, with a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes testament to that. The Emma Stone and Lanthimos story is set to become a trilogy too with the director confirming his 'muse' will also star in his next movie after Poor Things.
If you're after some more Oscar-winning movies on Netflix, you could always check out the historic winner with 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a similarly dark comedy.
