The early reviews for “Spencer” are in and Kristen Stewart may have turned in her finest performance to date.
Stewart plays Princess Diana in the film directed by Pablo Larrain, who previously presented the closest thing to American royalty in the 2016 biopic “Jackie,” about Jackie Kennedy.
In “Spencer,” Larrain’s vision will focus on Diana’s time during the Christmas holidays with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England. It is during this period that she decides to leave her marriage to Prince Charles.
By all accounts, Stewart rises to the occasion and portrays the snakebitten princess with a heartbreaking mix of magnetism and fragility.
The movie is slated to be released on Nov. 5, 2021, in the heart of awards season contention. A sample of reviews are as follows:
Independent: “Stewart’s febrile, sensitive performance and Larraín’s trademark lyricism give it an emotional kick that such predecessors lacked.”
The Wrap: “Stewart gets the doe-eyed, pitying tilt of the head and the little posh girl voice down pretty well, but this is no impression — it’s more an interpretation of a classic role, bringing layers of real human complexity to a figure who, for all the mythology that surrounds her, still looms large in the British and global conscience.”
The Hollywood Reporter: “Stewart’s finely detailed work on the accent and mannerisms is impeccable. The camera adores her, and she has seldom been more magnetic, or more heartbreakingly fragile.”
BBC: “Stewart is such inspired casting that she makes all this eccentric nonsense watchable.”
