VOD film review: Spencer
Review Overview
Performances
9Tone
7Soundtrack
9Cathy Brennan | On 20, Dec 2021
Director: Pablo Larraín
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall
Certificate: 15
The opening text to Spencer informs us that this film about Princess Diana’s fateful Christmas with the Royal family is “a fable from a true tragedy”. This necessary twist on the “based on true events” preface audiences are accustomed to frames the action within a literary sphere rather than one of historical reality. No doubt this earns the film some degree of ire from Royal commentators and “insiders”, but for those who appreciate good psychological drama, Spencer is an artistic triumph.
Kristen Stewart portrays Diana as a woman beset as she must endure the stifling conformity of Royal life, and its rigid traditions, over a three-day Christmas holiday. Similar to what he did with Jackie, director Pablo Larraín is able to defamiliarise the trappings of Imperial power, except this time it’s the Victorian household of Sandringham instead of the pseudo-classical surroundings of Washington DC.
This creates an uncanny atmosphere where the glossy sheen of privilege takes on a more malevolent appearance. Uncomfortably intrusive close-ups on Diana’s face establish an oppressive tone early on. Jonny Greenwood’s magnificent score for the film brings out the tension between tradition and modernity in the film with overtones of Baroque that occasionally give way to dribbles of free jazz.
This is Kristen Stewart’s film as a performer as she appears in almost every scene. However, Timothy Spall also stands out as the sinister and enigmatic Major Gordon, whose purpose is to make sure the Princess of Wales abides by royal protocol and does not expose herself to further ridicule from tabloid journalists.
Screenwriter Steven Knight’s use of symbolism in the film mostly works in the film’s favour because conversations between characters are so veiled by caution and surface-level deference. He does push his hand too far with references to Anne Boleyn, and some sequences stray from Gothic kitsch into outright silliness.
The otherwise restrained tone is tuned to delicate perfection, and layers of symbolism give Diana’s situation a socio-political resonance far beyond her personal circumstances. During her only sustained conversation with Charles, he says “you have to make your body do things that you hate for the good of the country”, bringing to mind Britain’s historic disdain for bodily autonomy, particularly among women, people of colour, and LGBTQ+ people. Scenes depicting Diana’s bulimia and self-harm will be distressing for audiences, but they are enacted with a blunt honesty by Stewart, which this writer personally found to be genuinely cathartic.
Like the best films, Spencer reveals further avenues for appreciation. Diana’s relationship to the young William and Harry is given particular attention, with one of the film’s most arresting scenes coming from a midnight game of childish role-playing. By devoting time to Diana’s love as a mother, as well as her private struggles, the filmmakers move Diana away from the nauseating indignity of iconicity that has plagued this woman’s legacy to this day.
Spencer overcomes the occasional misstep in tone to deliver a moving film about a woman named Diana Spencer as opposed to the “People’s Princess”.