History Film / TheFavourite

* AnimalMotifs: There's rabbits everywhere in the movie, because Queen Anne is exceptionally fond of them and keeps several as pets. Rabbits are generally seen as unclean animals in Western religions, and at the time of the film, rabbits were seen either as food or pests, which makes Queen Anne very eccentric. Rabbits also represent fertility — which is rather ironic, because in real life, Queen Anne lost all of her children either to miscarriages or premature births (her son and heir to the throne of Stuart, Prince William, was her longest-living child and died from a devastating combination of strep throat and pneumonia). This resulted in Queen Anne becoming a BrokenBird who coddles her rabbits as if they're her biological children, because they're the only family she has left.

* IllGirl: Queen Anne suffers chronic pain from various maladies. Abigail's ability to relieve that pain is what brings her into the Queen's inner circle.

* BastardGirlfriend: The three leads are this to each other throughout the film.

* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Averted with Sarah, who [[spoiler:is given some nasty facial scars after being dragged along through a forest by her horse]].

''The Favourite'' is a [[BasedOnATrueStory historically-inspired]] 2018 period drama film directed by Creator/YorgosLanthimos. Set in the royal court of Great Britain at the beginning of the 18th century, the film is about how Lady Sarah Churchill (Creator/RachelWeisz) and her cousin, Abigail Hill (Creator/EmmaStone), become bitter rivals with each other for the powerful position of Queen Anne's (Creator/OliviaColman) personal favourite. Creator/NicholasHoult, Creator/JoeAlwyn, Creator/JamesSmith, and Creator/MarkGatiss appear in supporting roles.

* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Anne has outlived no less than seventeen children, twelve whom were [[TragicMiscarriage miscarried or stillborn]].

** The idea of a sexual relationship between Abigail and Queen Anne is generally accepted as slanderous rumours started by a bitter Sarah Churchill, and the idea that Sarah herself was in such a relationship with Queen Anne is something that comes from reading some of their letters to one another out of their historical context as well as something that Sarah herself took care to deny. It also would have been difficult to have for various logistical reasons. Anne rarely leaving the bedside of her ailing husband, and she and Sarah fell out shortly after he died. Accusing monarchs and other royals of having same-sex relations with their closest confidant(e)s was fairly common slander in courts of the day,[[note]]In part because such rumours occasionally had a grain of truth to them; the relationship between Anne's great-grandfather UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI with George Villiers is generally accepted to been more than just a friendship. That said, historians have a ''lot'' more proof with James and Villiers than basically any of the other rumours from 17th-century courts (besides the ones involving Philippe, the Duke of Orléans, who was as openly homosexual as one could be in that era).[[/note]] so there is no special reason to think that this was any different.

* AcquiredSituationalNarcissism: Abigail develops this as she goes increasingly DrunkWithPower.

* PrettyInMink: Anne's court dress not only has [[PimpedOutCape the royal cape trimmed with ermine]], but the dress has the puff sleeves and overskirt decorated with ermine tails.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: After a fight with Sarah, Abigail repeatedly beats herself across the face with a book in order to give herself a bloody nose. She checks a mirror to see if she looks appropriately piteous, and then turns on the waterworks to earn Queen Anne's sympathy.
* YourCheatingHeart: As part of their AwfulWeddedLife, Abigail openly flirts and plays around with other men in front of Masham, who's visibly bitter.

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Abigail succeeds in driving Sarah out of the palace, and becomes the Queen's favourite; however, it's implied that, after a recent revelation, the Queen won't trust her anywhere near as much as she trusted Sarah, leaving Abigail as nothing more than the minder of a feeble, miserable old woman.]]

''The Favourite'' is a [[BasedOnATrueStory historically-inspired]] 2018 period drama film directed by Creator/YorgosLanthimos. Set in the royal court of Great Britain at the beginning of the 18th century, the film is about how Lady Sarah Churchill (Creator/RachelWeisz) and her cousin, Abigail Hill (Creator/EmmaStone), become bitter rivals with each other for the powerful position of Queen Anne's personal favourite (Creator/OliviaColman). Creator/NicholasHoult, Creator/JoeAlwyn, Creator/JamesSmith, and Creator/MarkGatiss appear in supporting roles.

** The idea of a sexual relationship between Abigail and Queen Anne is generally accepted as slanderous rumours started by a bitter Sarah Churchill, and the idea that Sarah herself was in such a relationship with Queen Anne is something that comes from reading some of their letters to one another out of their historical context as well as something that Sarah herself took care to deny. It also would have been difficult to have for various logistical reasons. Anne rarely leaving the bedside of her ailing husband, and she and Sarah fell out shortly after he died. Accusing monarchs and other royals of having same-sex relations with their closest confidant(e)s was fairly common slander in courts of the day,[[note]]In part because such rumours occasionally had a grain of truth to them; the relationship between Anne's great-grandfather UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI with George Villiers is generally accepted to been more than just a friendship. That said, historians have a ''lot'' more proof with James and Villiers than basically any of the other rumours from 17th-century courts (besides the ones involving [[BadassGay Philippe, the Duke of Orléans]], who was as openly homosexual as one could be in that era).[[/note]] so there is no special reason to think that this was any different.

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:Sarah is arrogant and confident in her ability to make the queen do whatever she wants, and certainly doesn't think a mere maid like Abigail could threaten her dominance at court. Abigail eventually humiliates her and sends her packing.]]

** The idea of a sexual relationship between Abigail and Queen Anne is generally accepted as slanderous rumours started by a bitter Sarah Churchill, and the idea that Sarah herself was in such a relationship with Queen Anne is something that comes from reading some of their letters to one another out of their historical context as well as something that Sarah herself took care to deny. It also would have been difficult to have for various logistical reasons. Anne rarely leaving the bedside of her ailing husband, and she and Sarah fell out shortly after he died. Accusing monarchs of having same-sex relations with their closest confidant(e)s was fairly common slander in courts of the day,[[note]]In part because such rumours occasionally had a grain of truth to them; the relationship between Anne's great-grandfather UsefulNotes/JamesVIAndI with George Villiers is generally accepted to been more than just a friendship.[[/note]] so there is no special reason to think that this was any different.

** The idea of a sexual relationship between Abigail and Queen Anne is generally accepted as slanderous rumours started by a bitter Sarah Churchill, and the idea that Sarah herself was in such a relationship with Queen Anne is something that comes from reading some of their letters to one another out of their historical context as well as something that Sarah herself took care to deny. It also would have been difficult to have for various logistical reasons. Anne rarely leaving the bedside of her ailing husband, and she and Sarah fell out shortly after he died. Accusing monarchs of having same-sex relations with their closest confidantes was fairly common slander in courts of the day, so there is no special reason to think that this was any different.

* EvilChancellor: Crossing over with the above trope. Harley, the Whig who leads the opposition, manipulates Abigail, forces her to become TheMole for him (which she resists), bullies the Queen, and attempts to intimidate Sarah.

* DressCodedForYourConvenience: Used to tell apart the two political parties. Members of the Tory party wear brown or black wigs with no makeup, and are dressed in red coats. Whig party members wear powdered wigs and makeup, and wear cream coats over colourful waistcoats and breeches.

* BlatantLies: When Abigail falls asleep in Anne's bed after having sex with Masham in the woods, Anne orders her out. As Abigail is leaving, Anne asks what happened to her dress, which is suspiciously rumpled and torn. Abigail's answer? "Wolves."

** The idea of a sexual relationship between Abigail and Queen Anne is generally accepted as slanderous rumours started by a bitter Sarah Churchill, and the idea that Sarah herself was in such a relationship with Queen Anne is something that comes from reading some of their letters to one another out of their historical context as well as something that Sarah herself took care to deny, and would have been difficult to have for various logistical reasons, such as Anne rarely leaving the bedside of her sick and dying husband, and she and Sarah fell out shortly after he died. Accusing monarchs of having same-sex relations with their closest confidantes was fairly common slander in courts of the day, so there is no special reason to think that this was any different.
** Related to the above, Prince George of Denmark, the husband of Queen Anne, is entirely absent from the movie, despite still being alive at the time the film is set and Anne spending years caring for him in his own ill health. One of the reasons for Sarah and Anne's falling out in RealLife was Sarah not bothering to mourn for his death and generally acting like she didn't care that he was dead at all, so him not being in the movie at all changes the real life story quite a bit.

** In real life, the relationship between Queen Anne and Sarah was already fraying before Abigail entered the picture (Sarah allegedly admitted to not even enjoying being around Anne and manipulated her for her own gain); though Sarah described Abigail as conniving and devious in her accounts of the events, it's seen as more likely that Queen Anne saw Abigail's sweet, even-tempered disposition as a welcome alternative to Sarah's forceful personality. Furthermore, Abigail never poisoned Sarah, and the rivalry between them had less to do with personal feelings about Anne (Anne and Sarah's relationship only ever being a RomanticTwoGirlFriendship) than about being on opposite sides of the political aisle.

* ManipulativeBitch: Sarah and Abigail. Even Queen Anne has her moments.

* SleepingTheirWayToTheTop: Anne and Sarah have a sexual relationship which allows Sarah to keep her position as the favourite with its political influences, but she's not a straight version of this trope as she's always been a very upper-class lady. It's just that being by Anne's side allows her to be de facto queen. However, Abigail is a totally straight version. Despite everyone telling her that Masham will not marry a lowly servant, he does after she thoroughly seduces him. Emphasised in that she has no real interest in him after their marriage and torments him by flirting with other men. It's left ambiguous if she has slept with Anne [[spoiler:until a WhamShot when Sarah storms into Anne's rooms and sees Abigail topless in bed beside Anne.]]

''The Favourite'' is a [[BasedOnATrueStory historically-inspired]] 2018 period drama film directed by Creator/YorgosLanthimos. Set in the royal court of Great Britain at the beginning of the 18th century, the film is about how Lady Sarah Churchill and her cousin, Abigail Hill, become bitter rivals with each other for the powerful position of Queen Anne's personal favourite.

The film, which stars Creator/OliviaColman as Queen Anne, Creator/RachelWeisz as Lady Sarah and Creator/EmmaStone as Abigail, was released on November 23, 2018.

* StarStruckSpeechless: Abigail has this twice, when she stumbles in on and meets Sarah after the staff mislead her, and then again when she meets Queen Anne for the first time.

* RichesToRags: Abigail's father, a gambling addict, lost the family's fortune and nobility. The quest to gain back that nobility is what drives Abigail.

* GracefulLoser: Upon realizing she and her husband are about to be banished, Sarah nonchalantly tells her husband that she has tired of England and continues sipping her tea.

** While it's impossible to know how much of the movie is accurate, being as so much took place behind closed doors, it's generally agreed upon that Abigail wasn't nearly as devious and scheming as Sarah (Lady Marlborough) would have you believe. She certainly never went so far as to ''poison'' Sarah, something even the historical Sarah Churchill never accused her of doing.

* VomitIndiscretionShot: All three of our main characters vomit at some point in the movie; Queen Anne after binge-eating cake, Abigail after getting plastered at a party, and Sarah [[spoiler:after she's been poisoned by Abigail]].