Sharing the cinematographer Robbie Ryan, the “Poor Things” choreography finds its closest twin in the ballroom of the 18th-century “The Favourite,” in which Lady Sarah Churchill (Rachel Weisz) and the ladder-climbing Abigail Hill (Emma Stone) compete for the favoritism of Queen Anne (Olivia Colman).
Just when the ballroom choreography fools you into a period-accurate dance, Sarah and her male partner (Joe Alwyn) break into full-throttle contemporary maneuvers that include voguing and breakdance. The sudden anachronism is absurdly funny thanks to choreographer Constanza Macras, who shared with Vulture that they applied names to the moves, such as “Frog,” “off with her head,” and “sit, sit, sit.” After all, “It’s much easier to know the step called ‘the exorcist,’ and then voguing!'”
But the comedy is underscored by close-ups of the recuperating Queen’s despondency as she watches Sarah, her current “favourite,” flaunt her physical freedom. Consumed by jealousy, the Queen orders Sarah to wheel her to her chambers. They have a wordless lover’s quarrel before they give in to their passions in bed. Sarah’s dance helps complete the portrait of the war of control between Queen and Sarah: Anne exercises her Queenly powers to have Sarah at her beck and call, while Sarah utilizes her mobility to provoke the Queen’s sights on her. But I argue that “The Favourite” does not illustrate the most viscerally intense dance of Lanthimos’ universes.