Directed By Jim O’Hanlon

Starring – Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston, Thomasin McKenzie

The Plot – A new porter (Ben Radcliffe) forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter (McKenzie) of a well-known UK family. As the Davenport family, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport (Lewis, Katherine Waterson), deals with the epic disaster of the wedding of their eldest daughter (Emma Laird) to her caddish cousin (Felton).

Rated R for some sexual content, adult language and violence.

Fackham Hall – Official Red Band Trailer (2025) Damian Lewis

POSITIVES

After the reaffirming critical and commercial praise of July’s “Naked Gun” remake, it was only a matter of time before satirical comedy once again attained a frequency in the mainstream limelight, and with “Fackham Hall”, the subgenre continues a highly effective level of envelope-pushing comedy, without anything that even comes close to politically correct. Written by British comedian, Jimmy Carr, the film is a cleverly constructed and often times hilarious spoof of British-bred TV shows such as “Downton Abbey” or “Bridgerton”, with a bulk of its material paid to outdated practices of upper class familial incest and dwindled women’s rights, the likes of which Carr pokes and prods at with the subtlety of a gastrointestinal surgery, albeit one that enacts the same kind of sensitivities to our tummies, on account of so much of the movie’s first half finding an 80% consistency of effective landings. While comedy has always been a subjective artform, the kind of sneaky gags pertaining to unsightly observational humor and fiercely flinging wordplay spoke distinctly to the level of lingering punchlines that requires a little more thought than expected to properly register, all in the fair play of its expressive R-rating, the likes of which Carr has no problems utilizing at the vulnerabilities of his characters. While the film begins as nothing more than an elegant spoof set in 1930’s idealism, it surprisingly evolves into a full-fledged murder mystery, during the movie’s second half, that with it not only enacts a solidly unpredictable mystery surrounding the devious culprit, but also inscribes as much stakes and circumstances to an uncontested upper class family, pitting their family at a crossroads divide with one another, on account of some selfish decisions among them that must be made. Adding to this evolution is the untimely arrival of an inspector Perrot type character of its own, played marvelously by Tom Goodman-Hill, as well as some slight personality deviations in the depths of the characters, in order to flesh out clues into the overhanging mystery, and while this is the primary focus gearing towards the movie’s climax, it isn’t without the escapable freedom to explore these centralized characters with expositional furthering, allowing them to feel like living, breathing entities, instead of these stuck up snobby types that they’re initially introduced to us as. On top of the script, the film is blessed beautifully by an early 20th century design in production that effortlessly recreates the upper class elegance of those aforementioned shows it spoofs so indelicately from, allowing many of its corresponding visuals to breed the same kind of style and symmetry that works exceptionally well in the balance of the crudeness of the comedy, creating an atmospheric juxtaposition that never loses sight of the surrounding ridiculousness of these traditions, even long before the individualized jokes start spewing. For my money, the wardrobe and set decoration really invite you into the unshakeable wealth of this family, particularly in the grasp of the extensive mansion that makes up so much of the movie’s primary setting, but just as much praises belong to cinematographer Oli Julian, for the ways he not only commands attention with some breathtaking establishing shots of the outside mansion, but also his slight contortions of the lens, which constantly feed attention-stealing emphasis to the many gags persisting in the backgrounds of the primary interactions, allowing our eyes to always be in the right spot at just the exact moment that Julian and Carr expect them to be. If this isn’t enough, the decorated ensemble manufacture marvelous responses and unmitigated commitment to their deliveries, regardless of what’s asked of them, and considering the central cast doesn’t have a single comedic-bred actor or actress between them, it proves O’Hanlon’s irreplaceable presence in commanding them, leading to more than a few prominent performances that share in the glow of this movie’s spotlight. For my money, Damian Lewis is the charismatic sponge that absorbs and adapts seamlessly to any situation, with a quirkily coy demeanor in front of the lens that immediately sets a hilarious precedent for what’s to follow, and with the battle-tested chemistry exuded effortlessly between he and on-screen wife, Katherine Waterston, she exudes a discontenting snobbery that is the representation of the family’s privilege, specifically when she drives her daughter, played by McKenzie, into the clutches of a man whom she has no interest in. McKenzie herself also hands in another dazzling performance that further speaks volumes to the genre elasticity that she has carved out as a chameleon actress, both with elegant demeanor and expressive facial registries that serve as the internalized eyes and ears of the audience, all the while proving impeccable comedic timing of her own with the patience and virtue she supplants to openly embracing the material.

NEGATIVES

While much of “Fackham Hall” is a hilarious romp of unrelenting crassness, it does unfortunately run into the very same problem that a majority of other satirical spoofs endure, in that its second half isn’t as funny as its first, leading to a lot more gaps in its connective power to the audience, which doesn’t guide as much of the movie’s pacing inside of a meager 92-minute runtime with the same kind of ease as that initial opening hour. A lot of this reasoning could certainly be blamed on the creative shift to a murder mystery, which seemingly comes out of nowhere in the movie’s creativity, especially in executing my very favorite character among the flock, but another issue is that so much of the material during this isolated section feels recycled from previous uses, with a far less significant impact with each further recreation, even when Carr attempts to dress the gags up in different methods. It’s tough enough to write so much material in a feature length project, but it’s simultaneously clear that Carr saved his best material for the moments to allure his audience into the frenzy of the fold, and while this is responsibly clever, it’s also compromising in the contrast of its inferior second half, requiring far more attention to inspire the kind of maintained energy and effectiveness to get us to the finish line. On top of this, while I surprisingly didn’t pick out the suspect in the movie’s aforementioned murder mystery, I feel like the twist within the big reveal was a bit undercooked in its grand delivery, with so little focus paid to a primary character involved in it, which in turn undercut its magnitude. While I understand that twists are so insignificant in a satirical spoof, I feel like there was enough focus paid to arrival that served as an overall resolution for the movie’s narrative, and because of such, I wish more time was spent in the initial introductions, in order to give this character a sense of distinguished purpose, instead of simply just serving as the arm candy in a thankless love story, allowing for more earnestness to the outline of the character, in ways that can attain sentimental even to something so silly.

OVERALL
“Fackham Hall” is a delightfully zany and creatively evolving satirical spoof of a film that fits intricately into the worlds of Downton Abbey or Bridgerton, with nearly as much stimulating style to balance the boastful comedic energy that lands a majority of the time, on account of Jimmy Carr’s uncontrolled chaos. While the film’s second half doesn’t fire as prominently as the movie’s first 60 minutes, the grace and open-ended vulnerability of the committed performances help to maintain the movie’s unrelenting British sensibilities, making for an elegant escapism from the problems of the real-world, which are made easier one laugh at a time.

My Grade: 7.8 or B