Spencer; Grade: B+
Spencer tells a story about Diana (Kristen Stewart) spending Christmas time with her sons and the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. Diana other than seeing her boys, isn’t at all thrilled in being at this lovely big mansion with the rest of the people. She doesn’t feel wanted at all, as the people in the house give her death stares or treat her like a prop. Witness a woman that goes through the motions of leaving a part of her life for the sake of her own well being.
Spencer truly has a lot of great qualities within this film. Visually it’s quite stunning as the Cinematography was quite fantastic, loved how it was shot as it was beautiful. I can already sense Spencer will be up for a Best Original Score at this upcoming award show, as the composed Score for this film was fantastic. The music displayed played a key element in the story and tone within how our main character Diana was feeling in several situations, it was probably my favorite score of the year so far.
Kristen Stewart will be also contending at the award season as well, as she delivered her best performance to date. Kristen totally transformed into a whole different person playing Diana, she played this role brilliantly as she was hardly recognizable in this role, fantastic performance.
The story of Spencer was steadily paced as it delivered a quite striking yet effective story, about one whom is seeking freedom from an unhappy marriage. Watching Diana felt like watching someone in a prison cell to be honest, the way she was treated by others was horrendous and the way people talked to her made one feel as if they were talking to an animal. The film does a really good job in making you feel unsettled within her situation, not only by how people treat her but how it effects Diana’s mind. Including moments of self harming herself with a tool or swallowing pearls, thoughts of falling to her own death, or throwing up after eating. Just by watching Diana you only hope she finds a way towards freedom in this situation, leaving a lifestyle that honestly is not worth it, no matter the riches or fame that comes with it.
I feel my flaws within this film would have to be some confusing like moments here and there, especially regarding the part with the whole book featuring a past woman of such.
Overall, Spencer was a pretty damn good film. I highly recommend checking this one out, it’s worth the price of admission. -Mitch Smietana