Kristen Stewart Shines In Stressful 'Spencer'
Starring Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Nielen, Freddie Spry, Jack Farthing and Sean Harris
Rated R
Drama
Run time: 1 hr, 51 min
Directed by Pablo Larraín
In theaters November 5, 2021
Warning: if eating disorders and mental illness are triggering, this may not be the film for you. Take care of yourself first.
Like most people invested in the British monarchy in some form or fashion, I’ve been extremely fascinated by the story of Princess Diana, whether through firsthand accounts in interviews with Prince Harry or through the semi-fictional retellings on The Crown. When I found out Kristen Stewart had been cast as Diana in this biopic, I - like many - was extremely dubious, until I saw the first picture of her in character. I was sold. Sure, there were things to be nervous about, particularly about how she’d do with Diana’s particular accent and mannerisms while speaking, but somehow that one photo made me more confident in her portrayal than I had expected. Thankfully, she actually exceeded expectations, and I’d be shocked if there aren’t a slew of award nominations in her future.
I feel like I need to give everyone the warning I wish I had going into this: this is a mostly fictional take on how the writers feel a very high stress Christmas weekend with the royal family went for Diana (Stewart) after ten years of marriage. We follow her through her journey as seemingly everything goes wrong: her husband (Farthing) gives her the same gift as he gave his mistress, she gets lost on the way to meet up with the family, her constant trips to the bathroom to get sick during meals get noticed and a lady’s maid she adores is sent away and replaced with someone she isn’t comfortable with. There is one bright spot in this whole miserable affair: her children. No matter where her paranoia may take her mind (even if her reactions are totally valid and proportionate responses to what’s going on in her life), she’s still able to find some peace hiding out with her little boys. But even so, all she wants to do is escape.
I’m thrilled to say how much I enjoyed watching Stewart in this role. She nailed the self conscious, slumped posture the Princess of Wales often engaged, and the unusual, sometimes halting and sometimes almost manic way she spoke. There were a few times I didn’t quite get what I was supposed to glean from her relationships with members of the staff in this household (a gruff chef who does seem to want to look out for her [Harris], a new butler-type man who seems suspicious of her [Spall, whom I could never quite forget was Wormtail in the Harry Potter films] and a few lady’s maids), but overall, I didn’t feel like much else mattered beyond what Stewart was giving us, and she was doing her damnedest to give us quite a lot.
Despite me enjoying this film, it took a while for me to digest it and accept that it was not the movie I thought it was going to be. I went in believing I was about to watch a slightly fictional story about a weekend we actually knew had occurred, and they were just taking liberties about how the events and conversations fully played out. Instead, we’re given what is akin to a psychological thriller as Diana’s mind filters what interactions with her in-laws must have felt like as she struggled with being the constant center of media attention, never truly fitting in with the stiff-upper-lip rules the royal family insists upon and not getting the mental health treatment she probably needed. The music fluctuates between a gorgeous, soothing score that are often equated with British period films and anxiety-inducing tracks that could have been at home in the soundtrack of Annihilation. It’s a unique movie that was definitely gave more than I expected, and it feels like the true initial entry into award season 2K21.