Kristen Stewart Took on the Royal Family in This 83% Rotten Tomatoes Film Coming To Streaming

Following her spike into the limelight with The Twilight Saga, there were some who claimed that Kristen Stewart would never be able to step out from the shadow of Bella Swan. But time and time again, the actress has proved the haters wrong. And, while she’s appeared in a slew of beloved cinematic favorites since The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 arrived in theaters more than a decade ago, it was with her 2021 historical drama, Spencer, through which she fully proved herself as a force to be reckoned with. Next month, Netflix is inviting audiences to see the film that earned Stewart an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress, as the royal family-centered mind-bending film will make its way onto the platform on February 8.

Helmed by Pablo Larraín (Jackie), Spencer takes your run-of-the-mill historical drama and flips it on its head. The film follows Diana, Princess of Wales (Stewart), during the holiday season of 1991. It captures her dedication to her two young sons, Prince Harry (Freddie Spry) and Prince William (Jack Nielen), while she struggles to come to terms with her husband, Prince Charles’ (Jack Farthing) affair with Camilla Parker Bowles (Emma Darwall-Smith). Most of the picture takes place at the royal family’s Christmas hideaway, the Sandringham House in Norfolk, which is the neighboring manor to Princess Diana’s childhood home, Park House. The movie captures Diana’s vulnerable spiral as past, present, and future all collide while she’s on a nightmare holiday with her in-laws.

Audiences and Critics Were Split on ‘Spencer’

Penned by Peaky Blinders creator, Steven Knight, the film is one of many to come from helmer Larraín who added the beloved Princess of Wales to his cinematic collection of strong women in power. The world has long had a collective obsession for the gone-too-soon Princess, with all eyes set on Spencer when it arrived in theaters back in 2021. Boasting a Certified Fresh critics’ score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, the film missed the mark with everyday audiences, landing a 52% approval rating. The biopic certainly won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, with plenty of trippy moments and parallels to Anne Boleyn, as well as some over-the-top impression work performed by Stewart. Still, the movie made big enough waves with the right people that it earned its star her first and only Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.

Decide if you fall on the side of audiences or critics when Spencer takes its place alongside Netflix’s sprawling lineup of content on February 8.

Release Date

November 5, 2021

Runtime

111

Writers

Steven Knight

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