Spencer

When a creative work is based on a beloved and widely revered real-life figure, the minds behind it almost inescapably get accused of “disrespecting” the subject’s legacy. Many attempts have been made to depict the strife of Princess Diana’s life within the royal family. More than a typical biopic, Spencer respects Diana’s humanity by capturing her vulnerabilities and struggles to find her place as the Princess of Wales. 

The casting of Diana is key. In Pablo Larraín’s Spencer, Kristen Stewart gave a career-best and revelatory performance as Princess Diana. Instead of competing to be the best impersonator of Princess Diana, Stewart’s performance is bold and refreshing in that she is able to make the character completely her own. 

In fact, Stewart’s performance works splendidly in concert with the other elements of the film. Opted out of doing a point-by-point retelling of Diana’s life, the filmmakers took creative license and prioritised capturing the interiority of the character, The narrative of the film spans across three emotionally harrowing days at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate where the events unfold like a fever dream clouded in fog and looming tension. It centres on Diana's internal turmoil, rendering the other royal family members as background. This makes room for a more intensely intimate character study of a woman who feels misplaced and misjudged and who is running away from being erased. Spencer is tinged with elements of a psychological thriller. Screenwriter Steven Knight included Diana’s hallucinations of Anne Boleyn, which further hyperbolizes Diana’s internal turbulence by drawing comparisons to the two women’s life and fate. 

With few other ways to express her individuality, Stewart’s Diana dazzled in iconic costumes by Jacqueline Durran that evoke, rather than replicate, many fashion moments of the Princess Diana many know and love. The moody and sensational score by Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood contributes to the emotional core of the film. Greenwood's magnificent work accentuates the spinning chaos and dysfunction throughout.

Spencer by Pablo Larraín is an unconventional and exquisite surrealist fable with a distinctive artistic approach. The aptly titled Spencer remembers Diana as, not a currency, but a human like any other who just wanted to live.