SUPERMAN : Tuesday 15th July 2025.

I saw the long awaited, eagerly anticipated and much hyped M Rated 'SUPERMAN' earlier this week, and this American Superhero film is based on the much loved DC Comics character of Superman/Clark Kent, and is Written, Co-Produced and Directed by James Gunn, who in October 2022 became the new Co-CEO of DC Studios with Peter Safran. This is the second reboot of the 'Superman' film series following on from the DC Extended Universe which kicked off with 'Man of Steel' in 2013, then 'Batman v. Superman : Dawn of Justice' in 2016 and 'Justice League' in 2017 with Henry Cavill playing the titular role in all three outings. This film is set to be the first film of the DCU's Chapter One : Gods and Monsters, cost US$225M to produce, was released internationally from last week, has so far grossed US$262M at the global Box Office and has generated positive critical reviews. 

The film opens telling us that three thousand years ago the first metahumans arrived on Earth. Then thirty years ago, Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van sent their infant son Kal-El to Earth to escape the destruction of their home planet, Krypton. Raised as Clark Kent by adoptive human parents Jonathan (Pruitt Taylor Vince) and Martha Kent (Neva Howell) in Smallville, Kansas, the Kryptonian gains incredible powers from the Earth's yellow Sun. Inspired to heroism by Jor-El and Lara's farewell message, the latter half of which was badly damaged on the journey, Clark introduced himself as Superman (David Corenswet), the most powerful metahuman on Earth, to the world three years ago. Clark maintains his secret identity and a job as a reporter for the Daily Planet newspaper in Metropolis, where he works with Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) who is in a relationship with Clark and aware of his secret identity, and Perry White (Wendell Pierce) the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Planet.

Three weeks earlier, Superman had prevented an invasion by Boravia, an ally of the USA, of its neighbouring country, Jarhanpur. Billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) assures General Rick Flag Sr. (Frank Grillo) and others in the US government, who begin to wonder if Superman might in fact be a threat, that he can kill Superman if necessary, but the government officials stave off that threat . . . for now. Then, three minutes ago Superman loses his first fight against the mysterious 'Hammer of Boravia', who states Superman's involvement in the war as the reason for his attack. However, unbeknownst to the world, the Hammer is actually Ultraman, who is controlled by Luthor using a series of drones. 

Krypto, a superpowered dog being looked after by Superman, takes the badly injured Superman who landed with a thud badly beaten, bruised, and with a few broken bones and ruptured internal organs in the frozen depth of Antarctica. Krypto drags Superman back to his Fortress of Solitude in Antarctica, where he is healed almost back to full strength by his trusted team of robots with concentrated solar radiation. Luthor later secretly invades the fortress alongside Ultraman and the Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), steals the farewell message from Jor-El and Lara and decodes it in its entirety, before abducting Krypto.

As Superman and the 'Justice Gang' - a team of metahuman heroes consisting Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), take on a giant fire breathing kaiju trampling through Metropolis that was created by Luthor as a diversion. At the same time Luthor broadcasts the entire decoded Kryptonian message to the world. 

To Superman's horror, in the second half of the message, his parents urge him to conquer Earth, take as many wives as needed to restore the Kryptonian race, and to stamp out those who stand in his way. Needless to say, public opinion very quickly turns on Superman. Lois Lane even begins having doubts, and so he voluntarily surrenders to the government for questioning, and because of Superman's power, Flag gives custody of the hero to Luthor. 

Luthor imprisons Superman in his artificial pocket universe where he incarcerates his enemies, including Krypto and the metahuman Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan, as a man made of four elements who could change himself, or part of himself, into any chemical compound in the universe). Using Metamorpho's baby son Joey as a hostage, Luthor forces him to create Kryptonite to render Superman powerless, which he does. Luthor's brainless blonde bimbo girlfriend Eve Teschmacher (Sara Sampaio), who is also infatuated with Jimmy, reveals that Luthor secretly backs Boravia in return for half of Jarhanpur's territory, providing photographic evidence of the plot before being imprisoned herself, also within the pocket universe.

Luthor interrogates Superman at his lowest ebb using Malik Ali (Dinesh Thyagarajan), a felafel cart vendor and one of Superman's supporters, as a hostage and playing Russian Roulette with him, before shooting his brains out on the second spin of his revolver.  This prompts a horrified Metamorpho to help Superman escape, and the two free Joey and Krypto. 

Lois convinces Mister Terrific to help find Superman, and they enter the pocket universe, ultimately rescuing the heroes and taking Superman to the Kent farm in rural Kansas to recover. Furious at Superman's escape, Luthor has his team increase the pocket universe reactor's power to coax Superman out, creating a rift that begins to tear across the city, destroying everything in its path and dividing the city in two.

Meanwhile Green Lantern, Metamorpho, and Hawkgirl arrive at the Boravian and Jarhanpur border and prevent a second invasion from happening by taking out a seemingly far superior and heavily armed Boravian army. Superman and Mister Terrific battle the Engineer and Ultraman as the growing rift rapidly approaches Metropolis. Hawkgirl fatally drops Vasil Ghurkos (Zlatko Buric), the President of Boravia who is in cahoots with Luthor, from a great height, killing him outright. After defeating the Engineer, Superman unmasks Ultraman (David Corenswet), revealing him to be a clone of himself. Luthor is so intent on defeating Superman that he refuses to close the rift, which further splits the city in half. Superman and Ultraman engage in a long standoff within the depths of the rift, with Superman overcoming Ultraman (aided by Krypto who takes out all of the drones that allows Luthor to control him) by trapping him inside a bus being pulled into a black hole below the rift. Superman and Mister Terrific go to the LuthorCorp headquarters to shut down the reactor, so closing the rift. The Justice Gang is celebrated as heroes alongside their newest member Metamorpho. In the meantime Lois and Jimmy type up an exclusive editorial piece with White's blessing, revealing Luthor's real intentions to the global media, so clearing Superman's name.

Luthor and his cohorts are all arrested, but not before Krypto has had a very long overdue go at Luthor leaving him bashed, bruised and with a few scrapes, and everyone trapped in his pocket universe are freed, including Eve, who runs and jumps into Jimmy's arms. Later, as Superman recovers from his injuries at the Fortress of Solitude, his cousin Kara Zor-El aka 'Supergirl' (Milly Alcock) drunkenly returns to pick up Krypto. To relax during the healing process, he watches footage of his childhood memories in Smallville growing up with Jonathan and Martha as his parents on their farm in Kansas. 

Remain in your seat for the very unconvincing mid-credits sequence single shot of Superman and Krypto sat side by side on the Moon looking back at Earth, which looks as though they are sat on a soccer ball (such that you can see the complete curvature of the Moon), with the Earth only about 5,000 miles away! And there's also an end credits scene, which the die hard fans may want to hold out for. 

Since James Gunn took the helm of the DC Studios with Co-CEO Peter Safran, expectations have been very high for this first instalment in the new DC Universe, and it must be said that Writer and Director Gunn does not disappoint. Here he has crafted a very engaging and entertaining film that at once has something to say about the political climate of today, has an emotional heartbeat at its core, is a welcome nod back to the comic books upon which this character is based, does not take itself too seriously, has some real moments of levity and humour, and is greater than the sum of its parts. The action set pieces which come thick and fast are well rendered, albeit do tend to drag on just a tad too long. The performances from David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult are top notch, with the former harking back to the days when Christopher Reeve first burst onto our screens way back in 1978, and the latter portraying the megalomaniacal domineering and relentless scientific genius who has designs on ruling over a country taken by force for his own political gain (sound familiar in 2025 anyone?), with such conviction to make him relatable and believable. If 'Superman' as the first film in the new DCU sets the standard by which all future DCU films follow, then the folks at the MCU had better think seriously about lifting their game.

'Superman' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE MENU : Tuesday 6th December 2022.

I saw the MA15+ Rated 'THE MENU' this week, which is an American black comedy horror film Directed by Mark Mylod whose prior feature film making efforts are his debut in 2002 with 'Ali G Indahouse', then 'The Big White' in 2005, with 'What's Your Number?' in 2011 being his last big screen offering before this one. In the meantime he has also Directed multiple episodes of 'The Royle Family', 'Entourage', 'Game of Thrones', 'Shameless' and 'Succession'. This film saw its World Premier screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September this year, before its release in the US in mid-November and here in Australia from 24th November. The film cost US$30M to produce, has so far grossed US$49M at the Box Office and has received generally positive critical press.

Here then, young couple Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Tyler (Nicholas Hoult) are waiting patiently on a jetty awaiting the arrival of a private boat to take them and a bunch of other selected guests to a remote island to eat at Hawthorne, an exclusive restaurant run by celebrity chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). We are quickly introduced to the other guests, those being Lillian Bloom (Janet McTeer) a famed food critic and her Editor, Ted (Paul Adelstein); George Diaz (John Leguizamo) a self-centred washed up Actor and his assistant and girlfriend Felicity (Aimee Carrero); a trio of tech business executives Soren (Arturo Castro), Bryce (Rob Yang) and Dave (Mark St. Cyr); and Richard Liebbrandt (Reed Birney) and his wife Anne (Judith Light). After disembarking the boat the restaurant maitre'd Elsa (Hong Chau) while conducting a quick roll call, notes that Margot was not Tyler's originally designated guest for the evening, which causes her some consternation. Elsa then guides the guests through the grounds on foot pointing out their herb and vegetable gardens, their Norwegian smokehouse, the house where Chef Slowik resides that is out of bounds for everyone and the living quarters where the kitchen brigade and front-of-house staff live. They are also advised that there is no mobile phone reception on the island.

Dinner begins, with first an amuse bouche then the first, second, third, a palette cleanser and then the fourth and fifth course all accompanied by the finest of wines. As each course unfolds Slowik claps his hands together to gain everyone's undivided attention, and his accompanying introductory monologues to each course gradually becoming more disconcerting and violent. On Slowik's orders, he calls upon Sous Chef Jeremy Louden (Adam Aalderks) at the start of a course he's titled 'The Mess' and tells everyone that Jeremy has aspirations to be him, but he is only good, not great, and never will be great. Slowik, kisses each cheek of his Sous Chef, who then pulls out a pistol, places it in his mouth and pulls the trigger. Hence 'The Mess', which Lilian Bloom quickly dismisses as part of Slowik's showmanship.

At this horror the guests try to leave, with Richard Liebbrandt being the first to the door but is halted by some burly looking floor staff and Elsa. She asks him, which hand - the left or the right, but Richard looks on quizzically. Out comes a chef with a kitchen knife and promptly cuts off his wedding ring finger, returning his bloodied wedding ring to his wife. Slowik then asks the guests to look out of the window to see the restaurant's main investor, and the boss of Soren, Bryce and Dave, while strapped to a harness with angel wings, is slowly lowered into the water and drowned in front of the guests.

Later all the guests are asked to step outside the restaurant, with the male guests given a forty-five second headstart and the opportunity to flee, but all are caught in no time and returned by the staff. Slowik declares all the guests were selected because they either contributed to him losing his passion for his craft or because they make a living off exploiting the work of artisans like him, then announces that the night will end with everyone on the island dead. Since Margot's presence was unplanned, Slowik gives her the choice of dying with either the staff or the guests, and she has fifteen minutes in which to decide. 

Slowik turns his attention to Tyler, revealing that he was invited personally eight months ago and knew all along that the dinner would end with everyone's death. This enrages Margot. It is revealed that Margot is in fact an escort named Erin whom Tyler has hired for the evening, knowing full well she would die, since the restaurant does not serve parties of one. Slowik humiliates Tyler further by forcing him to cook in front of the guests and staff, chastising his dish of leeks, shallots and lamb all roughly cut up and cooked up hastily in a frying pan. Slowik whispers in Tyler's ear who then leaves the kitchen and commits suicide by hanging in a storeroom. Slowik decides that Erin belongs with the staff and asks her to collect a barrel that is required for dessert from the smokehouse, falsely claiming that Elsa forgot it. 

After going to the smokehouse to retrieve the barrel, Erin sneaks into Slowik's house, only to be attacked by Elsa. After a scuffle in another commercial kitchen Erin kills Elsa in self-defence by stabbing her in the neck with a kitchen knife. Using a key found on Elsa's now lifeless body, Erin gains entry in Slowik's private quarters. After seeing newspaper clippings of Slowik's past life in his sparsely decorated office, and a photograph of the man from back in 1978 when he was flipping burgers at the dawn of his career Erin finds a radio, calls for help, and returns to the restaurant with the barrel. A Coast Guard officer soon arrives from his boat, bringing hope to the guests of their rescue. The officer recognises George from a movie he once saw him in and asks for his autograph. George nervously complies and pens the words Help Us and folds up the piece of paper. As the officer turns and is ready to leave he opens up the paper to reveal the message and promptly holds Slowik at gunpoint, commanding him to get down on his knees. The officer then reveals himself to be a line cook in disguise and returns to the kitchen, much to the guests astonishment.

Because of Erin's betrayal, Slowik tells her that she belongs with the guests, but Erin turns the tables and mocks his dishes and complains that she is still hungry. Having previously seen a photo of a young, happy Slowik working in a burger joint, Erin asks him for a cheeseburger and fries. Moved by her simple request, Slowik says that he'll fix her up the best cheeseburger she's ever tasted and asks if she wants crinkle cut fries or julienne. He then prepares the meal to her requirements. Erin takes a bite and praises his food, and then asks if she can get it 'to go'. Slowik packs the food for her and lets her leave, but not before she has paid ten bucks for her burger and fries. Erin takes the Coast Guard boat docked nearby and flees from the island.

The dinner culminates with dessert, for which Slowik pays tribute to the popular campfire treat in the US and Canada of s'mores, by covering the guests with coats made of marshmallows and hats made of chocolate. The kitchen brigade meanwhile adorn the floor space and table tops around the guests with decorative patterns of seemingly flammable ingredients. He then sets the restaurant ablaze, killing the guests, staff, and himself as Erin watches on from the now drifting boat off shore while chomping down on her cheeseburger. 

'The Menu' is deliciously entertaining from its strong performances of Fiennes, Taylor-Joy and Chau, to the very black dead-pan humour, to the social commentary about chefs as celebrities, up themselves critics, over zealous fans, the fear of missing out fiends and wealth and capitalist privileged consumerism writ large. And all of this is wrapped up in a tongue-in-cheek offering that is as much about the unfolding horror the guests increasingly find themselves in as it is about the gastronomic delights served up to them by the unwavering and dedicated team of cooks working the kitchen. The storyline is a feast for the senses and here Director Mark Mylod serves us up film packed with all the right ingredients to offer the viewer something fresh, mouthwatering and tasty. 

'The Menu' warrants four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five claps. 

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD : Tuesday 18th May 2021.

'THOSE WHO WISH ME DEAD' is an MA15+ Rated American survival action thriller film which I saw this week at my local multiplex. It is Directed and Co-Written for the screen by Taylor Sheridan and based on the 2014 book of the same name by Michael Koryta. Sheridan's previous two film making credits are 'Vile' in 2011 and 'Wind River' in 2017, although he has also written the Screenplays for various others including 'Sicario' in 2015 and its 2018 sequel 'Sicario : Day of the Soldado', 'Hell or High Water' and 'Wind River', plus numerous episodes of TV series 'Yellowstone'. The film was released in South Korea earlier this month, went on general release in Australia and the US from last week, has so far grossed US$7.5M and has generated mixed critical Reviews.

Here then, Hannah Faber (Angelina Jolie) is a smokejumper (a specially trained wildland firefighter who provides an initial attack response on remote wildland fires - they are inserted at the location of the fire by parachute) who is struggling to come to terms with the deaths of three young boys and another smokejumper last year during a forest fire which she was supposedly in charge of, and mis-read the direction the wind was blowing in, so engulfing the four fatalities in flame. She has subsequently been posted to a fire observation tower above the tree line in Park County, Montana. 

In the meantime Owen Casserly (Jake Weber) a widowed forensic accountant is preparing breakfast for his son Connor (Finn Little) when he learns over breaking early morning news that his boss and his family were blown sky high in an apparent gas explosion at their home. The reality is, that they were killed by father and son assassins Jack and Patrick Blackwell (Aiden Gillen and Nicholas Hoult respectively). Owen is of the belief that the assassins will target him next, as the evidence revealed during the course of his forensic accounting investigations tell a story of wide spread corruption through government departments, politicians and other influential parties. And so Owen makes a snap decision to go on the run with Connor, ultimately wanting to seek refuge with his brother-in-law Ethan Sawyer (Jon Bernthal) a Deputy Sheriff in Park County, and Hannah's former boyfriend. 

En-route to Park County, and after the Blackwell's have ransacked the Casserly home to find no one there and evidence that they left in a hurry, the Blackwell's ambush Owen and Connor forcing them off the road and down a steep ravine. As Owen sits in the drivers seat dying, he gives Connor hand written evidence implicating the Blackwell's employer, mob boss Arthur Phillip (Tyler Perry). He tells Connor to get out of the car and go hide under a fallen tree and to remain silent no matter what he witnesses. At that, from the road, the Blackwell's fire a barrage of bullets into the back of the car, shredding Owen who puts his foot on the accelerator sending the vehicle crashing down the ravine even further before coming to rest in a crumpled heap on its side at the bottom.    

Ethan comes across the car wreck on his way home later that afternoon, and meanwhile Hannah encounters Connor wandering through the forest while she is out on patrol. Connor is initially untrusting of Hannah and tries to evade her, but when confronted with a twelve mile hike to the nearest town relents and reluctantly agrees to accompany her back to the tower to contact the Police and the news media for help. Jack Blackwell receives a call from Arthur Phillip who wants to meet. Phillip instructs Blackwell to hunt down Connor and kill him.

And so in order to cause a distraction for a few hours while the Blackwell's go about their business, they start a forest fire using flares that quickly ignites the dry undergrowth and before you know it is a full blown forest fire raging out of control. They then drive to Ethan's house disguised as Police Officers believing that Connor would have made it there, to be greeted by Ethan's six months pregnant wife Allison (Medina Senghore). They force their way in and beat Allison into submission until she agrees to call Ethan and ask him the whereabouts of Connor. Ultimately, another scuffle breaks out in which Allison gains the upper hand with the use of a gas cylinder which she ignites and points it flamethrower like at Jack burning him badly to the side of his face, and fires off a few shotgun rounds at Patrick in the process catching them both off guard. Allison escapes the house.

That night an electrical storm strikes and a direct lightning bolt hits the tower frying the radio, the satellite phone and all the electrics in the place. Hannah then leads Connor into town on foot but are forced to retreat back to the tower when the fire blocks their safe passage through the woodland. Hannah is struck by lightning when crossing an open field, but survives badly shaken but not stirred save for a not insignificant burn to her shoulder. Ethan hurries home with the Sheriff having been previously alerted in the phone call from Allison that something was not quite right at home. The Blackwell's emerge and shoot the Sheriff dead and then force Ethan to guide them through the forest as their tracker to hunt down Connor. 

The Blackwell's and Ethan eventually come across the tower which appears empty, except from smoke rising out of a wood burning chimney. Ethan is forced to search it while the Blackwell's watch from a tree, saying that if Connor is in there to bring him down to them, and if not, to set the lookout alight. Having returned to the tower earlier, Hannah and Connor both hide while Ethan attempts to make it appear empty in the dark. Patrick notices Ethan talking and they start shooting into the tower, injuring Ethan. Hannah and Connor manage to escape. The Blackwells try to follow them but are stopped when Allison, having tracked down Ethan by way of a GPS, starts shooting at them. Patrick and Jack split up, with Patrick going after Hannah and Connor, and Jack staying to try and kill Allison; however, she shoots him twice disabling him and then plugs him with a third round at close range killing him.

Connor is told to run ahead by Hannah who has suffered a bullet wound to the leg, while she attempts to distract Patrick but he gains the upper hand over Hannah and is savagely landing punches to her face and head. Connor returns pleading for him to stop beating Hannah. Patrick rises to his feet, and approaches Connor telling him to turn around while he draws a knife in readiness to slit the young lads throat. Hannah meanwhile rises to her feet behind Patrick and lunges at him twice and a third time with a pick axe severely injuring him to the point where he asks her to finish him off. But she declines saying that he can suffer and then leaves him to burn to death in the approaching fire which quickly and very painfully engulfs him. 

Allison reunites with Ethan in the tower but they are trapped by the fire; they put on oxygen masks and hold each other as it surrounds them. Hannah and Connor jump into a stream and watch from under the water as the fire engulfs the forest all around and above them. The next morning as day breaks Hannah and Connor are sat by the waters edge of the stream which saved them both. They walk back to the tower, just as three men from Hannah's smoke-jumping team are parachuted in to save them, and Allison in the tower. Ethan died overnight from injuries sustained from his bullet wounds. Later that morning after medical assistance had been rendered, Connor prepares to give his father's evidence to the awaiting media channels and Hannah promises to help him navigate through his uncertain future. 

The production values in 'Those Who Wish Me Dead' are pretty good it must be said, particularly the staged forest fire sequences which look authentic enough and add to the realism of the film. There is also a fine cast of A-list movie talent here that is underpinned by two up and coming stars in young Aussie Finn Little and Medina Senghore that help elevate the film somewhat, and add a few moments of tension and emotion in an otherwise fairly predictable storyline that never rises above the sum of its parts. Had this film been released sometime during the late '80's or the '90's it probably would have been a smash hit and as it is this film is a formulaic throwback to those natural disaster flicks that filled the shelves in our local video and dvd rental stores during that bygone era. The Director and Writer Taylor Sheridan has proven his abilities with action spectacle and how to get the most out of his cast in an entertaining enough feature that is often overly violent, and will leave many questions unanswered by the time the end credits roll. At a brisk running time of one hundred minutes it is fast paced and will not leave you wanting, even though within 24 hours you will have forgotten about this movie and wondering what to see next. 

'Those Who Wish Me Dead' merits three claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a potential five claps.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-

THE FAVOURITE : Tuesday 8th January 2019.

'THE FAVOURITE' which I saw this week at my local Art Deco independent theatre, is made by Yorgos Lanthimos, the Greek film, video, and theatre Director, Producer and Screenwriter who here brings us this historical comedy drama offering that saw its World Premier screening at the Venice Film Festival back in late August, and where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and the Volpi Cup for Best Actress going to Olivia Colman. The film went on general release in the US in late November, was released in the UK on 1st January, has so far taken US$28M off the back of a US$15M production Budget, and has garnered widespread Critical acclaim. Lanthimos has enjoyed success more recently also with 'The Lobster' in 2015 and 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' in 2017. The film was nominated for five Golden Globe Awards including Best Motion Picture of which it won one, for Olivia Colman as Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical, and has subsequently picked up a total of 78 award wins and another 228 nominations from around the awards and festivals circuit, including thirteen recently announced BAFTA nominations.

Set during the very early years of the 18th century when England is at war with the French, and a frail 42 year old Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) sits on the throne suffering from gout, weight gain, and various other ailments - both physical and mental. She has very little interest in governing her lands and the machinations of the two political parties of the era and instead likes to throw lavish parties, have political guests almost run riot in her Royal household, and care for her seventeen rabbits whom she refers to as her children and which run around freely in her chambers. Each one of the seventeen rabbits represents each one of her seventeen children she had lost over the years, mostly though miscarriages and still births.

Acting as confidante, advisor, lover and practically surrogate Queen is Sarah Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough (Rachel Weisz) who has considerable sway with the two political parties - the Whigs and the Tories, who mostly look to Sarah as the influential mouthpiece of the Queen, and who in turn they try to influence on matters requiring some direction or a decision.

Meanwhile, Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) arrives at the Royal household seeking employment, having been unceremoniously booted out of a horse drawn carriage at the gate. Abigail was an earlier woman of means, educated, and from a privileged background and upbringing. But for reasons of some poor business choices and a gambling habit, her father lost his good name and fortune and sold his daughter to a German in exchange for a settlement of his debts. And so Abigail has fallen on hard times. Abigail is brought into the Royal palace but as a scullery maid to work in the kitchen on menial tasks - washing pots and scrubbing the floor.

One evening however, Abigail is hurriedly asked to attend the Queen's bed chamber where she lays prone on the floor, and to apply bandages to a sore, infected and inflamed leg. She sees this as an opportunity not to be missed, and so takes a horse early the next morning and rides off into the forest in search of a plant remedy to ease the Queen's suffering, which she then applies in secret. When Sarah initially sees what Abigail has done, and without any permission or knowledge from the Queen (for she slept while Abigail applied the plant extract poultice), she punishes her and orders she be birch whipped for her insolence. However, the Queen's suffering is eased as a result of the remedy, and Sarah can see that her intentions were in fact genuine, so she halts the whipping, and out of gratitude makes Abigail her Lady-in-Waiting.

Robert Harley, the 1st Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (Nicholas Hoult) is a member of Parliament and an influential landowner approaches Abigail with a view to her spying on Sarah and drip feeding him intelligence on what Sarah is scheming behind Royal closed doors, and as a means to sidestep her authority. Abigail initially refuses, but sometime later late at night witnesses Anne and Sarah in a secret lesbian relationship. As a result of this sighting, Abigail begins plotting her own rise to win the Queen's favour and reestablish her position in society.

Sarah becomes increasingly occupied with the war between England and France, at which her husband John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough (Mark Gatiss) is on the frontline battling it out for Queen and country. This is the opportunity for Abigail to foster a closer relationship still with Anne, which she does to good effect, ultimately becoming a sexual relationship. Sarah catches sight of a naked Abigail lying in bed next to Anne one morning, and as a result urges the Queen to have her sent away.

Catching onto this, Abigail spikes Sarah's tea a few days later just before she rides out on horseback. In the forest, Sarah comes to a steady halt on her horse, leans over, vomits and passes out, falling off the horse with one foot caught in a stirrup. The horse bolts dragging an unconscious Sarah through the rough undergrowth of the forest floor for hours until nightfall. Sarah is missing for a couple of days. Anne thinks that this is just a rouse on Sarah's part to make her jealous, and so she dismisses any suggestions of a search party, rather letting her stew in her own juices.

The Queen once again returns to Abigail as her favourite aided by her flattery and subservient attitude. The Queen's first gift to her new favourite is to be permitted to accept the marriage proposal of Samuel Masham (Joe Alwyn), a Baron of Queen Anne's court, which immediately reinstates Abigail's standing in society, aided by a gift of a two thousand pound dowry from the Queen every year from this point on.

Later Sarah comes round in a brothel where her wounds had been attended to do by the Madam of the house. She returns to the Royal household some days later badly scarred to her left cheek, battered and bruised and issues an ultimatum to the Queen to send Abigail away now once and for all, otherwise she'll leak very personal letters to the press that recount the secret affair between the pair. However, Sarah's ploy backfires and ultimately destroys the relationship that she had enjoyed for years with the Queen. As a result, Sarah is stripped of any power she once had, her privileges and her place in the Royal court, and is sent back to her own family home. Sarah then makes numerous attempts to write a letter of reconciliation back to Anne, and finally after finding the words, the letter is intercepted by Abigail and burned on the open fire before it reaches the Queen.

Abigail, as the newly appointed keeper of the Royal finances, reports to Anne that there seems to have been some impropriety in the financial records of the Royal palace, and Sarah appears to have syphoned off seven thousand pounds over recent years in favour of her husband. The Queen initially dismisses this notion, but upon reflection has Sarah and her husband banished from Great Britain. With Sarah now well and truly gone, Abigail's appetite for the good life start to get the better of her. Lavish parties, wild entertainment, rich foods, good wine begin to take their toll.

One day while Anne rests in her bed, and Abigail sits in a chair looking out of the window slurping on a glass of wine with seventeen rabbits running around, she deliberately steps on a rabbit squeezing it under her foot. The rabbit lets out a tiny yelp in pain and fear which is just enough to stir the Queen from her slumber, and for her to take grave offence at. Falling out of bed and scrambling to her feet, Anne steadies herself while Abigail rushes over to assist. Anne grabs Abigail by the hair and orders her to her knees and to start massaging her legs, just as though she were a lowly servant. In massaging the legs of the Queen, both parties seemingly readjust to a new order.

'The Favourite' is a lavish production - from the set design, to the costumes, to the internal and external surroundings around which the film is framed, and it packs a punch a whole lot more than its mere US$15M production Budget would suggest. This is a wickedly entertaining partially historical telling of the fractured relationships that unfolded in the Royal household of England circa 1708, and specifically between the three very manipulative, very strong, very driven female characters. There are some genuinely laugh out loud moments in this film, particularly a dance sequence at a party that has to be seen to be believed involving Harley and Sarah dancing like its 1999 in the Royal household - hysterical! And the use of the 'C' word gets plenty of airing in the film too - hence its MA15+ rating. Lanthimos succeeds in ticking all the boxes - from the striking performances of the three female leads Colman, Stone and Weisz who all demonstrate jealousy, anger, cunning and a nervous tension in equal measure, and from Hoult too; to the production values; to the witty, intense and always sharp dialogue; to the score; and the storyline whilst grounded in historical fact also adds more than a dash of fictional poetic license. And why not, when it all adds up to a film as commendable as this. See it on the big screen while you can, and see for yourself what all the buzz surrounding this film is about.

'The Favourite' merits four claps of the Odeon Online clapperboard from a possible five.

-Steve, at Odeon Online-