A masturbating, bulimic and escapist princess.
Don’t expect director Pablo Larrain’s biopic to get into the nitty-gritty of the scandal and gossip among Princess Diana’s story. Instead, get ready for self-harming, forcefully throwing up and reckless behaviour from the people’s princess. Nice, right?
If there’s one thing Spencer (2021) does right, is picking Best Actress Nominee 2022 (pending) Kristen Stewart. While she takes a moment to get used to, her mesmerizing quality and palpable charisma effortlessly captures the true essence of Princess Diana with her mannerisms and resemblance. When it comes to the tucking her chin down and looking up through her eyelashes, Stewart re-enacts Diana flawlessly and makes even the tedious moments of the film watchable.
1991, Christmas at Sandringham. Diana is looking for a way out of the royal life, marriage and perhaps, her own life. The one hour and fifty-one-minute film dedicates its time over a three-day period, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. While the film is colourful, there is no doubt, dark moments of this story. Specifically, when she forces her way through to her no access and boarded off childhood home using wire cutters. It was almost like watching a horror movie as she climbed up a broken staircase, dropping her torch to then be visited by the ghost of Princess Anne Boleyn – Diana’s antiquated equivalent.
“Where the f*** am I?” are the first words of Diana in the, what is described as, “fable” taken from a “true tragedy.” The true tragedy is the Chilean director’s and Peaky Blinders scriptwriter, Steven Knight’s, bizarre and somewhat offensive version of Diana’s story as a misfit in the royal monarchy. They frequently show her disregarding royal protocol which will undoubtedly anger the traditionists. “Now leave me, I want to masturbate,” she divulges to her dresser. There’s a line you don’t hear often in dramas involving the royal family.
If she’s not hallucinating, she is self-harming. It portrays her as delirious and unstable, with less emphasis on the root to her problems. The mistress of her husband is not named, and members of the royal family receive limited attention.
Though Stewart is not the only one who deserves praise. Sally Hawkins, who plays Diana’s favourite dresser – Maggie, brings life to a role which in other hands could have been boring. A very intimate and honest conversation between the two at the beach is so shocking yet realistic. It makes you question whether it was spontaneous or scripted.
It’s questionable whether Spencer should be labelled as a biopic due to its partially inaccurate and confusing storyline. But the virtue of it is carried by the actors’ admirable performances.
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