‘Spencer’ movie review: An engaging alternative reality
The Hindu
Kristen Stewart creates a fragile and human Diana that goes beyond the glittering gowns and the blonde bangs
Like Pablo Larraín’s Jackie (2016), which looks at Jacqueline Kennedy’s life in the week following her husband, President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Spencer looks at a crucial period in Lady Diana’s life.
It is Christmas 1991, which Lady Diana (Kristen Stewart) is spending with the royal family even as her marriage to Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) is unravelling. She seems close to a nervous breakdown with bulimia attacks and episodes of self-harm. From the beginning, where she deliberately arrives late to trying to entering her family home and picking a jacket off a scarecrow, Diana feels like a barely tolerated stranger in Sandringham, where the Royals are celebrating Christmas.
Apart from her sons, William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry), the rest of the royal family, including Queen Elizabeth (Stella Gonet) and Prince Philip (Richard Sammel) are largely indifferent and cold towards her. Only the royal dresser, Maggie (Sally Hawkins) is kind and supportive.