The Favourite Game 2003

In 1705, England is at war with France, and Queen Anne is in frail health, showing little interest in governance and retreating into private pursuits, such as playing with her rabbits, which stand in for the children she miscarried or lost in infancy. Her confidante and co-conspirator, Sarah Churchill, wields real power behind the scenes, steering decisions and influence. Yet this fragile balance is challenged by Robert Harley, the Leader of the Opposition, who quietly questions Sarah’s grip on the throne.

Abigail Hill, Sarah’s impoverished younger cousin, arrives at court under a cloud, having been shuffled into menial service after her father gambled away her future. She endures the palace’s routine scullery labor, her standing tainted by family misfortune. When Abigail tends to the Queen’s gout, she is initially punished for stepping into the Queen’s private space, but her herbal remedies prove beneficial, and Sarah, recognizing a potential advantage, appoints her to the role of Lady of the Bedchamber.

One night, Abigail witnesses a sexual relationship between Sarah and the Queen, an intimate secret that could destabilize Sarah’s authority if exposed. Harley then asks Abigail to spy on them, hoping to disrupt the power dynamic; Abigail refuses to betray the truth but hints that she knows about the arrangement.

A complicated bond forms between Abigail and Anne, turning intimate as Abigail’s proximity to the Queen grows. Sarah discovers this growing alliance and attempts to remove Abigail, yet Abigail’s influence persists. Facing a choice between harboring a dangerous rival or regaining her own status, Abigail weighs Harley’s offer to reclaim her noble standing and temporarily align with the court’s power plays.

To secure her position, Abigail drugs the Queen’s tea, and Sarah awakens in a brothel, a shocking reversal that signals how easily lives can be unsettled by schemes within the palace. Anne, now believing Sarah has abandoned her, elevates Abigail, allowing her to marry Colonel Masham, thereby restoring Abigail’s noble rank as Baroness Masham. With Abigail formally in favor, she assists Harley in steering the Queen’s decisions about the ongoing war.

When Sarah returns, Abigail offers a fragile truce, but Sarah’s response is hostile. She issues an ultimatum: change the war stance and send Abigail away, or reveal letters that document her relationship with the Queen. Though remorseful, Sarah burns the letters, and Anne nonetheless exiles her. The Lord High Treasurer Godolphin then presses Anne to repair fences with Sarah, and a letter from Sarah is promised to arrive—though its fate will hinge on Abigail’s machinations.

Abigail, now Keeper of the Privy Purse, presents what she claims to be evidence of Sarah’s embezzlement. Anne remains skeptical, and the anticipated reconciliation falters as Abigail intercepts Sarah’s letter and burns it. Deceived and hungry for control, Anne uses the embezzlement accusations as leverage to exile Sarah and her husband from court.

With Sarah gone, Abigail’s influence only grows; she begins to ignore Anne and frolic in society, even engaging in private affairs. In a cruel escalation, she abuses one of Anne’s rabbits, a moment that starkly reveals the Queen’s mounting fragility. Stricken by illness, Anne summons the strength to confront Abigail, ordering her to kneel and massage her leg, a tense act of domination that culminates in a painful moment as Anne, in anger, pulls Abigail’s hair while the masseuse conciliates, signaling the eroding control of the court and the Queen’s own frailty at the mercy of those around her.