As a biopic on the late Princess Diana, director Pablo Larraín's Spencer (2021) fails. However, Spencer soars and is a riveting watch as a psychological drama centered on a British Royal Family member during the 1990s. Spencer shares fewer similarities with the Netflix series The Crown and more with Todd Haynes' 1987 cult classic short film Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, which famously used modified Barbie dolls and miniature sets to tell the tragic life story of The Carpenters' lead singer and drummer Karen Carpenter's struggles with anorexia nervosa in a heightened and darkly satirical yet compassionate manner. Both Superstar and Spencer are highly stylized retellings of the personal lives of two iconic female figures from the 1970s (Karen Carpenter) and 1980s/'90s (Diana, Princess of Wales), with plenty of creative liberties to boot. Both movies begin with disclaimers letting audiences know that they are watching dramatizations or fictionalizations of historical events and figures. The main difference is that one has a bigger budget and production values, with superior acting performances from live-action actors (all due respect to the Barbie dolls).
Spencer follows Diana (played by Kristen Stewart) during a critical weekend in December 1991 during the Christmas festivities at Queen Elizabeth II (played by Stella Gonet)'s Sandringham House estate in Norfolk. There, she decides to separate from her husband, Prince Charles (played by Jack Farthing), amidst rumors of an extramarital affair.
All the performances in this movie are genuinely great. However, Stewart's phenomenal incarnation of Diana alone is worth the price of admission. Her nuanced gestures and composure capture Diana's shy and independent spirit incredibly well. Her portrayal is also quite honest as several instances depict the late royal acting out against the servants and the various procedures being imposed on her, like not being able to change with the curtains open or not going outside without an escort. Another aspect of Stewart's performance that is especially memorable is the display of Diana's eating disorders, which are portrayed in graphic detail through her binge-eating and induced vomiting into a toilet. These scenes are pretty hard to watch, as are a couple of sequences of her being suicidal, including one instance where she cuts herself with wire cutters and another where she contemplates throwing herself down a flight of stairs, which the real-life Diana did at one point while pregnant with her first son, William. However, not everything about this movie is emotional angst and mental decline. There are plenty of sequences featuring Diana with her two young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry (played by Jack Nielen and Freddie Spry, respectively), which are heartwarming and give this movie the emotional connection needed to invest audiences. While at times unflattering, Stewart's characterization of Diana remains an immensely sympathetic one and is easily her best performance yet.
Larraín's direction for this biopic leaves me torn. The historical fact-checker in me takes issue with the level of creative liberties taken with certain aspects of Diana's life. However, the film enthusiast in me welcomes creative freedom as long as the changes are done tastefully and are made with respect and reverence towards the subject matter, and are done to shed light on one's human aspects, as was done in this Princess Diana biopic. That said, the positives outweigh the negatives, as much of Larraín's psychological drama and sometimes horror approach to the subject matter proves itself highly effective in practice. This is perfectly exemplified by the incorporation of a dream ballet sequence featuring Diana dancing around various rooms of the estate at various ages and wearing different outfits, which is thematically comparable to the likes of those seen in Broadway musicals like Oklahoma! and West Side Story, as well as classic movie musicals like An American in Paris (1951). Claire Mathon's immaculate cinematography and lighting not only has a soft, warm, and slightly hazy glow to it during day shots but also gives off an ethereal vibe, especially during the film's night shots, which heavily use natural light, shadows, and fog. The overall aesthetic and how it is shot and lit resembles a long-lost reel of 16mm film found in someone's basement, lovingly restored, and publicly exhibited for the first time in years. A significant amount of time is dedicated to showcasing gothic imagery and lighting at night, specifically during a sequence set at Diana's abandoned childhood home (not abandoned in real life), which reminded me of shots from Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 film adaptation of Rebecca. This film's production design and costume design are all Oscar-worthy, for they perfectly capture the essence of the Royal Family's surroundings and Diana's fashion choices, as was so well-documented by the press and the paparazzi's cameras at the time. Jonny Greenwood's excellent musical score ranges from jazzy and atmospheric themes to intensely string-heavy and suspenseful pieces, much like how Superstar utilized a mix of all The Carpenters' hit songs playing together with an ever-intensifying synthesized hum that reflected Karen Carpenter's deteriorating mental and emotional state.
On the flip side, I found some of the creative liberties taken with historical events and characters rather unbelievable. 'Richard Carpenter being a closet homosexual' levels of improbable. For instance, fictional characters like Sally Hawkins and Timothy Spall's characters, while well-acted, felt shoehorned in for the sake of creating more sympathetic characters besides the protagonist. Not that I hated them, but more of a question mark as to who the real-life Diana interacted with and how well she got along with them.
Some are highly engaging, like Diana's conversations with Darren, the Royal Head Chef (played by Sean Harris) and Queen Elizabeth, who bring up much of the film's critiques of the Royal Family, its restrictions, disadvantages, and how the public perceives royalty as "currency" respectively, thanks to screenwriter Steven Knight. On the other hand, (spoiler alert) there is a scene where Hawkins' character admits her feelings for Diana. The latter is taken aback by this revelation, but they remain on friendly terms. The sequence, while solid on its own, felt relatively out of place in this movie. Also, while Knight's screenplay is well-written with its inclusion of historical references to and parallels to Anne Boleyn (played by Amy Manson), Henry VIII's second wife, who was famously executed by beheading for treason after her marriage with her husband was annulled, these parallels to Diana's life do, at times, get a little on the nose.
Spencer is a visually immersive and superbly acted period drama that deserves most (if not all) of the awards this season. While imperfect and certainly not for everyone, this film is a masterclass in creating tension and suspense through directing and editing, crafting sympathetic characters through intelligent screenwriting, and creating atmosphere through excellent cinematography, incredible production and costume design, immaculate hair and makeup work, and thematically memorable music. On a side note, Diana utters at one point in the first act, "Will they kill me, do you think?" a somewhat ambiguous line that will most likely pique conspiracy theorists and trigger the Royal Family. How much of that implication is true? That is, like everything else, a story for another day.
Final Score: 8 out of 10
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