Spencer

Starting with the onscreen subtitle ‘A Fable from a True Tragedy’, Pablo Larraín’s (‘The Club’, ‘Jackie’) spectacularly irreverent take on the three-day Christmas break taken (endured, is more like it) by the British royal family at Sandringham in 1991 features an uncanny portrayal of Princess Diana by the amazing Kristen Stewart. With her marriage to Charles (Jack Farthing) on the rocks, her in-laws a cold bunch, and ghosts all around her, the ‘People’s Princess’ is slowly coming apart at the seams—and Larraín’s unerring directorial choices make this an unforgettable spectacle.

‘Working off a sharp script by Steven Knight, Chilean director Pablo Larraín spins the headlines and scandals into a full-blown Gothic nightmare, an opulent ice palace of a movie with shades of “Rebecca” at the edges and a pleasing bat-squeak of absurdity in its portrayal of the royals. Larraín’s approach to the material is rich and intoxicating and altogether magnificent… Stewart proves entirely compelling in the title role… [She] effectively captures the agony of a woman so programmed and insulated that she feels she has no escape and has lost sight of who she is…’—Xan Brooks, The Guardian