I had a mixed reaction to "Spencer," Pablo Larrain's film about three days in the life of Princess Diana as she's trapped in Windsor over the Christmas holiday with a family who doesn't want her and who she hates. On the one hand, I liked Larrain's decision to give the film a horror movie vibe, as if the demons plaguing Diana are literally real. There have been so many versions of this story, on screen and in print, that what's the point of doing yet another if you're not going to do something daring with it?
But the movie is a bit much to take. It's oppressive, which fits the subject matter, so I get that. But it's also very one note, and worst, it doesn't make Diana come alive as a person or character. You have to bring a lot of knowledge of Diana's story to this movie for it to completely make it worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just stuck with a very bizarre woman wandering around a big house in nice clothes for two hours. You can empathize with her, because she's clearly a very troubled woman going through a crisis, but that doesn't mean you necessarily want to spend time with her.
Kristen Stewart was just nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award at the time I'm writing this comment, and her performance is good I guess. I think she gives the performance Larrain wants her to give. But it's a very weird performance, and extremely hard to warm to.
Sally Hawkins has a smallish role as the only member of the household staff who Diana can deal with, and as always, she carries the movie off with her and made me want it to just be about her instead.
Grade: B.
