As expected, the fog of fall festivals is starting to clear up and Pablo Larrain’s “Spencer” is being brought back down to earth.
Some critics are waking up to Spencer’s mediocrity. It was inevitably going to happen. It went from an 88 on Metacritic during fall festival season to now a 77. Of course, K-Stew stands a good chance of winning the Oscar (the narrative is too irresistible for Academy voters), but “Spencer” is no “Jackie” — the latter was at least infused with frightening real-world dynamics that felt closer to the truth.
“Spencer” is pure fairy tale and does Diana a major disservice, portraying her as a total lunatic. It’s a statement made with the utmost of contempt for not just the Royal family, but also, unintentionally, the Princess of Wales herself. Audiences are starting to come to that conclusion as well. A 49% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is something of a concern for the film’s odds of getting a Best Picture nomination.
In essence, the decision to premiere “Spencer” at the Venice Film Festival was a brilliant one for NEON. At the time, buzz around K-Stew’s performance was very strong and there had been an anti-crown narrative building all throughout the year with the Harry and Meghan Oprah interview. Four of the seven 100 scores on MC are from UK journalists. It’s a film that very much relies on the current zeitgeist to tell its “fable from a true tragedy.”
K-Stew getting into the Best Actress category is almost a certainty, but if voters look through the facade they might opt to reign Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye), Penelope Cruz (Parallel Mothers), Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter) or Jodie Comer (The Last Duel) instead.
The studio has unveiled "The Angel Promise," a sweeping new content policy that bans on-screen sex, nudity, F-words and any misuse of God's name in its films.