Spencer: Horror, loneliness, and Princess Diana

Princess Diana is one of the most famous and beloved figures of the 20th century. She was adored by the masses all over the world, and remains a favourite of royal admirers over 20 years since her tragic death. The film Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as the British iconoclast, portrays a pivotal moment of her life.

Princess Diana spends time away from the royal family in Spencer.

This film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, and also played at TIFF.  Spencer takes place over a couple of days during Christmas 1991, when Queen Elizabeth II and her extended family met at Sandringham Estate for the holidays. as they do every year. While most of the family arrives on time, Diana takes her time coming to the estate, dreading another encounter with the family. She takes great joy in seeing her children, and connecting with lots of the staff such as her royal dresser (played by Sally Hawkins from The Shape of Water and Vera Drake).

But the first time she goes to meet her husband (played by Jack Farthing from Love Wedding Repeat), her in-laws, and the rest of the United Kingdom’s monarchy for Christmas, an intense score of horns and strings builds to an almost painful crescendo. Her mental state struggles with every step towards them. Stewart has spent her career playing complicated roles, from a teenage girl in love with a vampire, to a personal shopper struggling with a ghost, to a lonely teacher crossing state lines for connection. And here she plays maybe her most intense role, a charitable icon of the Commonwealth who struggles with her own mental health and bulimia.

A woman trapped in the prettiest cage in the entire world. A woman with the love of the common people, but not her husband’s family. A woman who wants to be seen as human, but is only seen as a princess. Stewart combines all these complicated feelings into one intense performance. Her character is frequently plagued by visions of Anne Boleyn, a former Queen of England who was beheaded by her husband. She feels a kinship with the woman lethally abandoned by her King, and the audience’s trip into her mental state frequently highlights her isolation and depression.

Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer.

The film’s director, Chilean auteur Pablo Larrain, was incredibly excited to work with Stewart. In an interview, he tells me that Stewart was a perfect choice for playing Princess Diana because “she can play Diana’s mystery more than anything really well.”

Spencer also draws frequent comparisons to Jackie, a 2016 film about the days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as seen from the perspective of First Lady Jackie Kennedy (portrayed by Natalie Portman from V for Vendetta). Also directed by Larrain, the films work well as companion pieces to each other. Larrain tells me while they are incredibly similar, he sees the two films as different. “I think Jackie is about grief and memory, and Spencer is about identity and motherhood.”

Jackie employs a non-linear structure, frequently moving around in the days after the President’s assassination, and a few treasured memories before. Spencer is entirely linear, focusing on the holiday’s events as they happen. But the biggest connection between the two, as Larrain puts it, is their attempt to reclaim their identity. “They were both able to save their own identity after going through very difficult times. And understanding that no matter what they do, everything they do will always be in the public eye.”

Spencer is available now in theatres, and it features one of the strongest performances of the year. It shows a side not often seen of a truly beloved woman gone too soon. This is a film you definitely can’t miss!