Spencer (2021)

I knew absolutely nothing about this movie beforehand. I heard/read extraordinarily positive reactions that definitely elevated my expectations. And my actual knowledge about Princess Diana and her life was and still is extremely basic. Spencer is one of those rare examples where going into it completely blind didn't work in my favor at all. I found myself trying to look for something to grab on to, and despite some genuinely outstanding technical attributes, Steven Knight's (Locked Down) screenplay doesn't offer me enough to hold my attention. Spencer is undoubtedly a fictional character p…

An enigmatic actress full of baggage plays one of the most enigmatic people of the 20th century who had a bit of acting to do herself. Diana’s stories are far too plentiful for one film - or even a series of them - so the film wisely keeps to only one chapter. It’s a slow meditation with lots of time spent on expansive and beautiful shots of an ugly situation. The big question for this film is the choice of the lead: How on earth did such as American actress like Stewart play someone dealing with the successors of the House of Stewart? Stewart shows the skills to pull it off with lots…

If I were a royalty groupie, I might have enoyed this film. But I'm not. And I did not enoy this film at all. It's only saving grace is that it's technically well done.