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Spencer

100 Movies of 2021

Spencer

2021

Pablo Larraín

Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins ...

6.3

7,766

Drama The story covers a critical weekend in the early ‘90s, when Princess Diana -Diana Frances Spencer- decided her marriage to Prince Charles wasn’t working, and that she needed to veer from a path that put her in line to one day be queen. The drama takes place over three days, in one of her final Christmas holidays in the House of Windsor in their Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. (Synopsis courtesy of deadline.com)

	Author	Review
United States	David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Stewart’s finely detailed work on the accent and mannerisms is impeccable. The camera adores her (...) it tells a sorrowful story we all think we know in a new and genuinely disturbing light"	POS
United States	Jessica Kiang The Playlist	"shamelessly pleasurable, archly self-aware, high camp masterpiece (...) All the right people are going to hate 'Spencer.' That’s just how good it is."	POS
United Kingdom	Jonathan Romney Screendaily	"An empathetic, intelligent insight into the prison of fame and privilege, with Kristen Stewart offering a lead performance that is brittle, tender, sometimes playful"	POS
United Kingdom	Xan Brooks The Guardian	"Larraín’s approach to the material is rich and intoxicating and altogether magnificent (...) Kristen Stewart proves entirely compelling in the title role (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"'Spencer' is an intimate speculative drama that stays as close as it can to everything we know about Diana. At the same time, the movie is infused with a poetic extravagance"	POS
United States	Ben Croll IndieWire	"[It] doesn’t try to locate the real woman behind the legend — as the title might suggest — as it does to reimagine her within a wholly different pop lexicon (...) a psychodrama swimming the same tides as 'Repulsion'"	POS
United States	Jason Solomons The Wrap	"Hinging (or unhinging) on a major performance from Kristen Stewart, the movie itself unfurls in a torrent of ideas and madness, some of it brilliant, some of it quite silly."	NEU
United States	Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"The movie manages to be the most honest and probing take (...) Of all the Diana projects out there, this is the one the late Diana Spencer would want you to see"	POS
United Kingdom	Sophie Monks Kaufman Time Out	"Larraín reclaims the vitality of the woman from the tragedy associated with her name, and it’s a beautiful emotional release (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
Canada	Dustin Chang Screen Anarchy	"'Spencer' is yet another major film from Larrain, a modern master in cinema. And his illustrious, diverse cinematic expansion continues. Do not miss seeing the film on the big screen"	POS
United Kingdom	Ian Freer Empire	"Though it doesn't ever make you really feel, [it] is a bold, compassionate, poetic riposte to standard royal biopics. It also confirms Kristen Stewart as one of the most exciting actors working today (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Peter Travers ABC News	"Kristen Stewart gives the performance of her life (...) She makes 'Spencer' a spellbinder from first scene to last (...) Thanks to her brilliant, bittersweet, utterly transporting performance, we get to watch her fly"	POS
United States	Hau Chu The Washington Post	"Compared with biopics that sand off rough edges, perpetuating a subject’s deification, it’s refreshing to watch a film that isn’t afraid to get messy (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Stewart leverages her own star power to turn Diana into someone familiar."	POS
United States	M.N. Miller Ready Steady Cut	"'Spencer' reaches levels of haunting piquancy and has a performance from Kristen Stewart the encompasses mind, body, and soul (…) Rating: ★★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	A.A. Dowd AV Club	"Pablo Larraín fails to make compelling Diana's struggles with royalty (...) One is left to admire the textures, the way Larraín at once delivers and undercuts the glamour of his extravagant setting"	NEU
United States	Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"Even as it achieves the emotional extravagance of a first-rate melodrama, refuses to be hemmed in"	POS
Canada	Mae Abdulbaki Screen Rant	"Heavy-handed and unnecessarily long, 'Spencer' explores Diana as a prisoner of the royal family in heart-wrenching and beautifully haunting fashion (...) Larraín's direction is precise and beautiful (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Mary Sollosi Entertainment Weekly	"Unconventional Princess Diana biopic (...) The actress delivers one of her best performances yet"	POS
United States	Michael Phillips Chicago Tribune	"There’s more than one way to dramatize the public/private schisms of celebrity, and this way feels right for this director, this actress and this movie (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"An exquisitely designed, beautifully photographed and at times hauntingly surreal story (...) For all of Lorrain's sophisticated visual touches, 'Spencer' is anything but subtle (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Monica Castillo rogerebert.com	"A haunting reimagining of a tense Christmas holiday in the life of Princess Diana (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Brian Truitt USA Today	"With a stellar performance from Kristen Stewart, director Pablo Larraín’s supremely brilliant “Spencer” is an enlightening glimpse into the mind of Princess Diana (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS

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