Spencer (2021) * *

Directed by:  Pablo Lorrain

Starring:  Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Jack Farthing, Amy Manson, Sally Hawkins

Like Lorrain's Jackie (2016), Spencer creates a microcosm of the pressures a famous woman is facing compressed into a few days.   In Jackie, it was an examination of Jackie Kennedy in the days following her husband's assassination.   Spencer views Princess Diana (Stewart) over the Christmas holiday in 1991.  She is estranged from Prince Charles, embroiled in controversy and constant press attention, and only longs to spend some time with her two sons.  

Spencer is as cold and unwelcoming as the royal family's treatment of Diana, anchored by a Stewart performance in which she more often than not whispers her lines barely to the level of audible speech.  I'm not sure if this is the actor's choice or director's, but it is distracting.   The reason for this technique is unclear.   Is Lorrain saying Diana has to speak in hushed tones because the royal family has squelched her freedom of expression?   Or was Diana soft-spoken in general?   

Spencer also speculates that Diana experienced hallucinations of Anne Boleyn and of favorite servants who may not exist.  Ten years of marriage to the aloof Prince Charles and by extension to the royal family has taken its toll on her mental and physical health.   Diana vomits up every meal and then wolfs down the next one only to throw it up again.   One of these scenes would have been enough.

If you didn't know much about Princess Diana before watching Spencer, you will watch Spencer without much context which detracts from the overall effect.   You may not even know that Spencer was Princess Diana's last name.   Spencer depends on the viewer to have a decent working knowledge of Princess Diana's story before going in.   Without it, you may not get much from Spencer.   I found myself not caring much, even when I was supposed to be overjoyed by Diana's albeit temporary escape from her fate.