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Pablo Larraín's Spencer Is Beautiful, Haunting & Flawed
Decades after her death, Princess Diana remains a fascinating and tragic public figure. Pablo Larraín’s Spencer is deeply intrigued by the late royal’s spiraling mental state over the course of a three-day Christmas retreat with her family. Written by Steven Knight, Spencer is an intimate portrait of a woman trapped within the confines of the royal institution that favors tradition and propriety above all else. The film is often suffocating as it captures Diana’s headspace, with Larraín’s direction making her seem small within the trappings of the lavish grounds. Heavy-handed and unnecessarily long, Spencer explores Diana as a prisoner of the royal family in heart-wrenching and beautifully haunting fashion.
Arriving late to the Sandringham estate, the private home of Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales (Kristen Stewart), is already dreading spending Christmas cooped up in the large home with the other royal family members. Hating the physical confines of the grounds and the upkeep of outdated traditions, Diana longs to escape back to her childhood home that lies so close to where she's staying and yet so far out of reach. Spencer doesn’t have much plot as it's more of a personal exploration of Diana’s emotions in a tumultuous time in her life, marked by Prince Charles’ (Jack Farthing) affair with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, unwanted media attention, and a need to act outside of the strict royal regiment. Diana can only be herself around sons William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry), and royal dresser and friend Maggie (Sally Hawkins), with whom Diana divulges her opinions and deepest emotions.
Knight’s screenplay is obsessed with Diana’s doomed fate, and Stewart’s broody unhappiness and always glistening eyes are an extension of it. At various points, Diana is told she must remain beautiful; at the very least, she must never lose that in the wake of hawkish attention from other royals, the media, and the staff, who have ears and eyes on everything. Stewart embodies Diana in a standout performance that is often greater than the film itself. While there are moments when the princess’ actions seem immature in her attempts to rebel in small ways, Stewart’s performance shines in quieter scenes when she’s alone and contemplative, as well as in the moments of escalating suffocation that Larraín so exquisitely turns horrific.
The costumes by Jacqueline Durran, paired with Wakana Yoshihara’s makeup and hair, maintain Diana’s external beauty and poise while she internally drowns and loses herself throughout the film. The real-life tragedy surrounding Diana elevates the moodiness of Spencer, wherein every scene — be it Diana seething quietly over Prince Charles’ requests for her to keep up appearances for duty or the head of staff (Timothy Spall) explaining to a frustrated Diana that he is loyal to the Crown first and foremost — is laced with foreshadow and increasing distress regarding her future. Knowing how it all ends makes Diana’s situation and desperate need for freedom feel all the more claustrophobic and heart-wrenching, and Larraín certainly captures these heavily layered emotions, escalating the tension slowly until it erupts. Diana’s unraveling is elevated even further by Jonny Greenwood’s haunting score, ensuring that the royal’s devastating and overwhelming feelings are captured at every turn.
There is no doubt Spencer is a well-made film with a fantastic, magnetic central performance. However, the film is longer than it needs to be, with Diana’s state becoming repetitive as it continues its cycle through to the end with little development. Spencer is also heavy-handed in its metaphors even as it only references Charles’ mistress and Diana’s “someone” rather than naming them. Anne Boleyn, the queen of England who was beheaded so Henry VIII could marry his mistress, literally haunting Diana and foreshadowing her fate is excessive in making its point. What’s more, Larraín doesn’t seem interested in exploring Diana as a person outside of her sadness, more into showcasing her as a victim of a cold royal institution that sucked away her happiness and spirit.
While the film is only a “fable from a true tragedy,” its nearly two hour runtime could have allowed for more nuance, with Larraín leaning into the film’s aesthetics over something a bit deeper. Despite everything, however, Spencer is an exceptionally made and striking film. Stewart’s performance is evocative, sure to catch the attention of moviegoers and awards bodies alike. Even when certain aspects of the film grow tedious, Larraín’s direction is precise and beautiful, with overhead shots of Sandringham’s grounds crucially intimidating amidst Diana’s emotional turmoil.
Spencer had its Middleburg Film Festival premiere on October 16, 2021. The film releases in theaters on November 5. It is 111 minutes long and is rated R for some language.
