User reviews

I had a mixed reaction to "Spencer," Pablo Larrain's film about three days in the life of Princess Diana as she's trapped in Windsor over the Christmas holiday with a family who doesn't want her and who she hates. On the one hand, I liked Larrain's decision to give the film a horror movie vibe, as if the demons plaguing Diana are literally real. There have been so many versions of this story, on screen and in print, that what's the point of doing yet another if you're not going to do something daring with it?

But the movie is a bit much to take. It's oppressive, which fits the subject matter, so I get that. But it's also very one note, and worst, it doesn't make Diana come alive as a person or character. You have to bring a lot of knowledge of Diana's story to this movie for it to completely make it worthwhile. Otherwise, you're just stuck with a very bizarre woman wandering around a big house in nice clothes for two hours. You can empathize with her, because she's clearly a very troubled woman going through a crisis, but that doesn't mean you necessarily want to spend time with her.

Kristen Stewart was just nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award at the time I'm writing this comment, and her performance is good I guess. I think she gives the performance Larrain wants her to give. But it's a very weird performance, and extremely hard to warm to.

Sally Hawkins has a smallish role as the only member of the household staff who Diana can deal with, and as always, she carries the movie off with her and made me want it to just be about her instead.

Grade: B.

This does feel like an interesting spin on the typical royal period piece. Having the royal family as Diana's horror was a unique framing device, but you really feel like you're getting hit over the head with Diana's trauma for 2 hours.

Even as someone who has watched The Crown, you have to bring in a LOT of prior knowledge about this story to understand everything going on. It's heavy on symbolism and not the most subtle, but Stewart's performance is worthy of the hype and is the main thing to watch here.

It's December 1991. The British royal family is gathering to spend Christmas at a royal estate. The abandoned Spencer estate is nearby. Diana (Kristen Stewart) is driving herself and arrives late. She finds herself more and more isolated. Major Alistar Gregory (Timothy Spall) leads the staff to impose order upon her.

There seems to be a lot of praise for Kristen Stewart's work in this. I can certainly see what she's doing and she's doing a lot of it. Sometimes, people say that an actor disappears into the role. In this one, I never lose sight that this is Kristen Stewart. She is doing her standard jittery demure acting. It always looks like her and her movements. A lot of this rides on her performance and I like it less than most. Timothy Spall is performing through his deliberate gritting teeth. Again, I get the work but I would like less singular mannerisms. As for the story, it hits the broad elements of the situation. I do like the mental health aspect although there is no way to know the truth. This is sensationalized. It would help if the performances are more toned down and normalized especially Kristen. She needs to do less of her jittery demure.

This is not a traditional biopic, far from it. In fact it all takes place over a three day period during the 1991 version of the annual Royal Family's Christmas at Sandringham Estate. About 10 years after Charles and Diana were married and about six years before Diana would die in the car crash in Paris. It is more of a fictionalized dramatization of what it must have been like for Diana, a caged animal yearning to be free, but confined to the customs and rules of the Royal Family.

There is a conversation in the middle of the movie, Charles explaining to Diana, each member of the Royal Family is two people, the one that reporters and photographers see and the real one. But Diana was unable to fit that mold.

Fine portrayals by all involved, my wife and I enjoyed it at home on DVD from our public library.

Nearly turned it off after half an hour ; it's not what you expect and the score is hard work. As the film progresses you can see it's purpose is to depict Diana's mood: Timothy spall is brilliant and a little scary; the scenes with harry and william are weak; but Kirsten has Diana's voice and mannerisms perfected. The analogy with Anne Boleyn makes the film worth watching.

When I first heard that Kristen Stewart was cast as Princess Diana, I was sceptical I must admit.. The American does a great job though in picturing one of the most loved British people of all time.

I dont want to spoil anything, I just say that sure...we all knew the gossip, the conspiracies, the theories about Diana and her death, but still, almost 25 years later, this movie still brings aspects to the story, that are fresh, new and provocative. It was a bit more psychedelic than expected and I enjoyed that movie much more than I thought I would and it surely will not be liked by the royals, especially Prince Charles, he wont be amused with his depiction!

The film is good. Ignore the 1 star reviewers who hate Kristen based on one film she did over a decade ago. She is a terrific actress, and her repertoire of under the radar films proves it.

She's near perfectly been cast in "Spencer", and the film is just as gripping and successful (if not more) than "Jackie".

6/10 - I really wanted to fall in love with this film, but found it lacking in a lot of the heart it needed to convey this story with the sympathy and genuineness necessary in the story of such a layered and pained woman.

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Spencer" (2021) was a bit of a disappointment for me. I wasn't expecting anything from this movie because i do not care about this royal family in real life, and this movie will not start me to care about it now. I liked the performance by Kristen Stewart, i liked the overall mood of this movie - it sometimes plays like a horror movie - i get what they were going for. Yet despite that at running time 1 h 50 min this movie did drag a lot and it is simply a boring one. Some nice supporting performances but nothing to write home about.

Overall, "Spencer" is a movie which upon watching it i did not care of anything that was going on. I get the idea what they tried to show, but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

All i kept thinking was "could they make the woman seem any more stupid? What an insult to her memory".

It's like over acting all the time.

Drove me nuts.

Diana Spencer was a highly intelligent woman.

This rendition of her life, to me, is blatant, annoying, tedious garbage that's completely over acted by Kristen Stewart. Such a shame as she's a real talent, so putting that down to the director.

Diana always appeared composed & together when in public. Even when her marriage was breaking down.

There was that live TV show she did & discussed 3 people in the marriage? Even then she was composed and not at all ditsy, bobbing her head around everywhere & sounding like an idiot.

To me, this is a disrespectful piece of work that cannot be claimed to be an accurate portrayal of Diana Spencer.

It's utterly ridiculous, the physical mannerisms & movement that have been associated with her character.

Upsetting to see a respected figure treated with such disrespect.

Would give this a minus Infinity if possible.

I've been putting off watching this as I honestly thought Kristen Stewart would be terrible. I love it when I'm proved wrong. You need to go into this movie with no expectations. It's not your usual Diana history piece, but I personally believe it's the best. Kristen captures Diana exceptionally well & showed us the inner torment she lived with everyday. It's a film about coping with mental health & the effect it has on everyone around you. Hats off to cast & crew. It was amazing.

"Spencer" is a Biography - Drama movie in which we follow lady Diana on her Christmas holidays at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. She deals with health problems and a lot of pressure and decides to end her marriage to Prince Charles.

I have to admit that I had high expectations from this movie since it is based on a very important person, Lady Diana. Unfortunately, I was not satisfied by the result because there were not many scenes that could explain us a bit more her final choice. This could be done with some flashbacks in order to make it clear and better establish her character. Despite that the interpretation of Kristen Stewart who played as Diana Spencer was very good, she did not save this movie. Another interpretation that has to be mentioned was Timothy Spall's who played as Major Alistar Gregory and he was simply amazing. To sum up, I have to say that "Spencer" had the potential of being an amazing movie about Lady Diana but failed.

From the director of Jackie comes another unconventional biopic, this time focusing on Diana Spencer. More a character study than a full-fledged biographical drama, Spencer unfolds like a psychological horror and attempts to capture her inner turmoil as she finds herself on verge of breakdown while spending the Christmas holidays with the royal family at one of their estates.

Directed by Pablo Larraín, the film is a fictionalised account but still draws its inspiration from real-life events and is more interested in exploring & exploiting the titular character's struggle with her mental health problems as well as the suffocation she felt amidst all the luxury of the British crown. And yet, Larraín fails to add anything new or bring a fresh perspective to what's already common knowledge.

On the technical front however, the film earns its scores. Production design team does put up sumptuous set pieces that neatly serve as interiors of the British royal family's country house. The fluid camerawork, radiant palette & skilful lighting silently enrich the imagery while Jonny Greenwood's sonorous score echoes through every chamber. And Kristen Stewart's excellent performance is what makes it worth viewing.

Overall, Spencer leans more towards an art-house endeavour than a conventional biopic and though it is a technically sound production, the narrative is hollow & emotionally unappealing. It's as if Larraín put all of his effort into making sure the picture looks as beautiful as possible coz the script didn't have much to say. Serving only as a vehicle for Stewart to flex her acting prowess, the film may dazzle some but it left me cold & indifferent.

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"I knew absolutely nothing about this movie beforehand. I heard/read extraordinarily positive reactions that definitely elevated my expectations. And my actual knowledge about Princess Diana and her life was and still is extremely basic. Spencer is one of those rare examples where going into it completely blind didn't work in my favor at all. I found myself trying to look for something to grab on to, and despite some genuinely outstanding technical attributes, Steven Knight's (Locked Down) screenplay doesn't offer me enough to hold my attention.

Spencer is undoubtedly a fictional character piece that only stands on its feet due to one of the year's most mesmerizing lead performances. Kristen Stewart (Underwater), an actress who still gets a lot of unfair hate despite her clear evolution to one of the most underrated actors working today, delivers a career-defining portrayal of Princess Diana that viewers will hardly forget about. I can't recall the last time I witnessed an actor completely disappearing into their role. A true masterclass worthy of every single award. The rest of the cast is also superb.

Technically, I also have little to complain about. Pablo Larraín's (Jackie) distinct direction adequately fits the frustrating, claustrophobic story, and I love how Claire Mathon's (Portrait of a Lady on Fire) moves between the intimate close-ups and gorgeous wide shots. As expected, costume and production design look fabulous, but Jonny Greenwood's (You Were Never Really Here) score didn't work for me. The mix of jazz with high-tension sequences becomes too uncanny, distracting the viewers from the narrative, which leads me to my main issue.

For someone with my knowledge and expectations, Spencer becomes one of those "nothing happens" films that usually surprises viewers with its unique storytelling approach. I'm all-in for this type of work, but outside of Stewart's display, I struggled to feel captivated by whatever was going on. A supposedly consistently interesting character study transformed into an overlong, repetitive one-woman show, where I couldn't figure out what it was aiming for. I understand the purpose of making the audience feel how Diana felt during her marriage and living within British Royalty, but Larraín's execution somehow fails to leave me emotionally satisfied.

A second viewing will probably improve and strengthen my opinion about the movie. For now, I feel very mixed about Spencer, but I'll leave this as a positive review trusting that I'll gradually enjoy it more after each viewing."

Rating: B-

I had been curious about the unfettered praise Kristen Stewart has been receiving for her performance as Diana. It's not an uncanny impersonation but more a vivid rendering of a woman lost in her rarefied circumstances. Taking place over just three days during the holidays in 1991, this is far less a historical recounting and more a fictionalized psychodrama that contains moments that alternate quickly between affecting and frustrating. Director Pablo Larrain follows the same framework he used in "Jackie", and here the sense of self-entrapment felt even more realistic even with fantasy sequences that border on the absurd. The appropriately costumed and coiffed Stewart definitely leaves her mark here, but don't expect a rosy picture of the People's Princess.

Kristen Stewart gives a career best performance in Spencer. 10/10.

Greetings again from the darkness. "A fable of a true tragedy." Such is the cautionary sub-heading that director Pablo Larrain begins his latest film. As in his 2016 film, JACKIE, the director turns his lens to an icon of which both too much and too little is known. The screenplay is written by Steven Knight (DIRTY PRETTY THINGS, 2002), and it takes place in the early 1990's not long before the official marital break of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Most of this movie takes place in the muddled mind of Lady Diana through surreal dream sequences and imagined internal mental imagery.

You may find the holidays to be a stressful time, but what we see in Diana are the results of unrelenting pressures: media, royal family, a husband's not-so-secret relationship with another woman, and yes, the somewhat absurd Christmas traditions of the institution into which she married. Kristen Stewart plays Diana, and we first see her lost on the back country roads trying to drive herself to Sandringham Estate, the site of the festivities. Arriving late (as she does throughout the 3 days covered here), Diana is confronted by Major Gregory (Timothy Spall), a military man hired by the royal family to keep the media at bay and to 'spy' and report on Diana's every move ... including the traditional holiday "weigh-in", a particularly discomforting event for the Princess with an eating disorder.

It seems the only ones happy to see her are the kids: William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry). Their relationship is much how we have imagined - lots of mommy time with some royal lessons thrown in for good measure. A book on her life leads to Diana's encounters with the ghost of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of King Henry VIII, whose path is one Di would prefer to avoid. Her only confidant is her dresser Maggie (Sally Hawkins), the lone adult she can trust with actual thoughts and conversation. We quickly realize that, regardless of the size of the castle, Diana feels very much as if she has been caged by her situation.

Her emotional pain and anguish seems to multiply by the minute, right down to being forced to wear the pearl necklace - identical to the one Charles (Jack Farthing) also gave Camilla. Grasping for freedom, Diana tries to explore her nearby childhood home, now a relic of the past. The coat removed from a dilapidated scarecrow is yet another attempt for Diana to escape back to her simpler and happier life, and of course, we watch this knowing how her story ends.

The head chef, Darren McGrady (a terrific Sean Harris) is one of the few who holds a soft spot of empathy for the Princess, but her paranoia is only enhanced by such things as the sign in the kitchen that states, "They can hear you", and a reminder from Maggie, "Everyone here hears everything." Cinematographer Claire Methon complements the surreal feel with matching camera work, and Jonny Greenwood (PHANTOM THREAD, 2017) delivers one of his most unique and distinctive scores - both matching the oddity of the film and the captivating performance of Kristen Stewart. More psychodrama than biopic, director Larrain's film is both interpretative and a bit sad.

It was a solid portrayal and filled with good scenes.

I don't understand the good reviews.

Visually most of the shots didn't make any sense and were completely unnecessary.

The music was so horrible that my ears bled.

As for Stewart performance , How can anyone say it was outstanding??? She was dressed up as Diana trying very hard to talk like her and move like her, it was like watching someone with an expensive Halloween costume. She wasn't convincing at all, you don't see Lady Di. Can't believe how bad it was!

Moody, atmospheric, sad: beautifully directed and so well acted as K Stew delivers in this hauntingly tragic cage of a film. Don't know if I'll ever rewatch, but glad to have seen it.

Alt review: possibly the best filmed and most depressing season of The Crown yet.

When I heard they were going to make this movie I said to myself who would watch this when the Crown is on Netflix? Now I know why this film was green lit. This is not a typical biographical film,it is a very personal portrait. We get a close look at Diana's struggles, her inner demons and turmoils. Long gone are the glamorous parties and cocktail dresses. We see her suffer from an eating disorder, we see her anguish over her failed marriage, we see her questioning her role as a princess.

One scene I particularly liked is of Diana reading a book of Anne Boleyn, the Queen who was beheaded by Henry the 8th. She then recites a poem that becomes very allegorical to her failed marriage.

The King wanted to replace Anne because he had fallen in love with another woman. (Of course the real reason was that Henry 8th needed a son.) The life of royals has never been glamorous,but filled with betrayal, manipulations and treachery. Diana's life was no different.

The pacing is a bit slow, and the dialogue a little boring, the acting is fine, Kristin Stewart is fine as Diana, the real Diana was a lot more demure.

This movie is actually a lot deeper than your average formulaic biopic.

Kirsten Stewart is horrendous, as is the movie. We watched 20 mins and turned it off, didn't want to waste another hour an a half of our lives. Do yourself a favour and watch a documentary on Princess Diana's life.