"'The Favourite' is a filthy, violent and outrageous period comedy that drips with bad language and worse behaviour, and will appall anyone who is expecting a more conventional royal drama. It's also strangely touching. Almost all of the film is set in the palace of Queen Anne at the dawn of the 18th Century. The film bends every rule of the carriages-and-country-houses costume drama. Robbie Ryan, the cinematographer, lights it to resemble a Caravaggio painting, and sometimes uses a fisheye lens to stretch and warp the picture. And yet, despite all of this, 'The Favourite' is still believable. Lanthimos' most ambitious film is always populated by human beings, rather than his usual alien androids." (BBC)