Fackham Hall, 2025.
Directed by Jim O’Hanlon.
Starring Thomasin McKenzie, Emma Laird, Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston, Lizzie Hopley, Tom Felton, Tom Goodman-Hill, Lee Boardman, Ben Radcliffe, Lily Knight, Jimmy Carr, Charlie Rawes, Adam Woodward, Nathan Hall, Alex Butler, Magdalena Sverlander, Tim McMullan, Laurie Ogden, Paula Wharton, Gemma Wardle, and Erin Austen.
SYNOPSIS:
A new porter forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter of a well-known UK family, as the Davenport family, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport, deals with the epic disaster of the wedding of their eldest daughter to her caddish cousin.
The title of director Jim O’Hanlon’s spoof of a certain popular long-running, recently concluded British royalty Netflix series also succinctly sums up the type of humor to expect in Fackham Hall. Yes, it sounds like a heavy-duty four-letter curse word that, ironically, most likely was never uttered on that mostly family-friendly series. It also sets the example that nearly every joke here is, in some way, entirely literal-minded, giving it a resemblance to the iconic Naked Gun franchise. And that’s what this is: British Naked Gun by way of Downton Abbey. It is as stupidly hilarious as that concept sounds.
Centered on the aristocratic Davenport family, the film (there is a crowded writers’ room of several names, which would usually spell doom, but here feels as if everyone was on the same page about the craft, the tone, and humor) is about the roadblocks of ensuring Fackham Hall stays within their name. Lord Davenport (Damien Lewis) has no male heirs (his sons George, Ringo… you get the joke) are all dead, meaning that it’s up to one of his two daughters to marry a first cousin. Cue several jokes about incest and general women’s plights during the 1930s.
There are two daughters: Poppy (Emma Laird) is preparing to make the sacrifice and tie the knot with Archibald Davenport (Tom Felton), whereas 23-year-old (already approaching past her prime for marriage in one of the more ruthless yet depressingly accurate satirical jab at the perception of far too many men around the world) Rose (Thomasin McKenzie, an absolute delight taking a step away from serious minded psychologically draining roles to turn in some slapstick, crass dumb fun) is the more feminist of the two, interested in things like reading that make her less attractive to the empty-headed privileged little dopes surrounding her. Don’t worry, there are plenty of visual gags involving roses. Rest assured, every name and word used here typically comes back around into a joke.
Without giving too much away (the story actually runs through some surprising beats and has numerous welcome surprises), it falls to Rose to contemplate sacrificing her ideals and marrying a first cousin. The other barrier there is that she has become quite smitten with the newest house servant, Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe), a literal no one not worthy of marrying into such a wealthy family. They do have some time to sort and figure this out, so long as Lord Davenport remains alive, but well, he finds himself in increasingly ridiculous, perilous situations frequently.
The jokes don’t need describing or explaining; expect plenty of wordplay, riffs on Downton Abbey, and the occasional whipsmart modern reference (such as a servant named Siri). Obviously, this is nothing revolutionary in terms of filmmaking or storytelling, and even some of the jokes that make for easy targets sometimes become repetitive and overused. However, it is impressive that something so goofy remains so charming, even when secrets are revealed, and dynamics change. Fackham Hall indeed remains funny and loaded with jokes throughout, although it does work best before the crux of the plot involving Rose is put into motion. It’s also plain pleasant to see these types of comedies making an inspired comeback.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder
