Spencer | Review
“A fable from a true tragedy” are the words that introduce this film, a sign of caution for those expecting a typical biopic. In fact, I don’t even think Spencer, which follows 72 hours in the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, can even be called a “biopic.”
This is a fictionalized account about what might have happened during a three-day Christmas weekend in 1991. Like the 2015 film Steve Jobs or last year’s One Night in Miami, Spencer is the type of biographical drama that isn’t concerned with depicting its subject’s greatest hits or history as it actually happened, but does something much better. It’s a work of fiction that offers an insightful character study to depict an inherent truth.
Spencer will not satisfy most moviegoing audiences. “This is the worst movie we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic,” someone in my audience said aloud. This is not an easy film to digest. It’s told solely from Diana’s perspective. We barely see or hear from the Royal Family, only getting a few lines from her husband, Prince Charles (Jack Farthing), and the Queen (Stella Gonet). This is a psychological horror that offers a glimpse into the mind of a woman who is on the verge of a breakdown.
She’s bulimic, reverting back to self harm. Her husband, 16 years her senior, is having an affair. The Royal Family is cold to her. The only warm welcome she receives is from her two young boys, William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry). Her only friend at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate, where the holiday festivities are taking place, is her dresser Maggie (Sally Hawkins). Someone has left her a book in her bedroom that details the life and death of Anne Boleyn, the former Queen of England and second wife to King Henry VIII who was famously beheaded after her husband sought to marry another woman and needed a reason to get rid of his current one. It’s a warning.
Diana is trapped between her responsibilities as a Royal and her need for freedom, a life outside of the strict confines of the Royal Family, where everything, from what she wears to what she eats and when she does either, is predetermined for her. It doesn’t matter that she’s unhappy. “You have to be able to do things you hate. There has to be two of you,” says Charles. “There’s the real one, and the one they take pictures of.”
The 20,000 acre estate where the film takes place is less of a country house and more like a prison—and she’s trying to escape. The label “P.O.W.” is tagged on her dresses—for Princess of Wales—but it may very well stand for something else. This is one of the film’s more subtle moments. Elsewhere, Equerry Major Alistair Gregory (Timothy Spall) tells her an anecdote about how the British soldiers die for the Crown. Diana is not willing to sacrifice her life. She will not accept her fate like that of the pheasants on the Royal compounds, bred and raised for the sole purpose of being hunted as game.
This film wouldn’t have worked were it not for the Oscar-worthy performance from Kristen Stewart, which may come as a surprise for folks who only judge her acting capabilities from her Twilight days. Stewart's performance masterfully portrays Diana’s delicate state of mind, her angst, her desperation. A woman at her breaking point. I’m too young to know how well Stewart embodies the real-life Diana, but it doesn’t actually matter. This is a career-best achievement.
Also worthy of admiration is the direction from Pablo Larraín (Jackie) and cinematography from Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), whose combined efforts elevate Stewart’s introspective performance with many close-ups and shots of her in close quarters. I loved the soft, muted, pastel aesthetics, which support the film’s dream-like qualities, especially when Diana starts envisioning Anne Boleyn, as well as happier days.
The film also has one of the best scenes I’ve seen all year. Set on Christmas morning with just Diana and her boys, it’s Diana at her happiest (and one of the only times we see her happy the entire film). We can imagine a better future with her, for her. Knowing what will happen to her just six years later, it’s heartbreaking.
