A condensed biopic that also functions as a psychological horror film, Spencer dramatizes a Christmas holiday amidst the royal family as endured by Diana, Princess of Wales, on the eve of her divorce from Prince Charles. Aligned as intimately as it is with Diana’s perspective (no other member of the family speaks until a good third into the film), Spencer relies quite heavily on Kristen Stewart’s central performance. Once you adjust to the repetitive rhythm of speaking she employs—a rush of words, followed by a pregnant pause, then another rush with a single syllable of emphasis—you can appreciate some of the more delicate work she’s doing, particularly her darting eyes and changing posture. (How she stands depends almost entirely on who is looking at her.) As he did with Jackie, in which Natalie Portman played Jackie Kennedy in the days after her husband’s assassination, director Pablo Larrain pushes the camera tightly into his star’s face or stalks her through ornate passageways, a la The Shining. Working with screenwriter Steven Knight, Larrain also adds a ghostly element by having Diana haunted by the figure of Anne Boleyn. More spookiness comes courtesy of the dissonant, omnipresent score by Jonny Greenwood and misty, morose cinematography by Claire Mathon. It all adds up to a claustrophobic portrait of a woman trying to hold it together while forces both historical and personal conspire to drive her mad.
(11/17/2021)
