Spencer (2021) on Netflix
Christmas 1991. Diana, Princess of Wales, drives herself to Sandringham in Norfolk, where her marriage to Charles is strained. She considers leaving the marriage.
- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb6.5/1082,536 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
At Sandringham House in Norfolk, the royal family gathers for Christmas 1991. Diana, Princess of Wales, whose marriage to Charles has become strained over his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, considers leaving. She drives herself instead of riding with her security detail and gets lost; she meets Darren, the royal head chef, and notices Park House, the abandoned neighboring estate where she grew up, and a scarecrow wearing a jacket that belonged to her father. Her sons William and Harry are happy to see her, but she keeps to herself. Royal dresser Maggie, her only friend there, tells her to meet what is expected of her. In her bedroom Diana finds a book about Anne Boleyn, and she dreams of Boleyn.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Spencer (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Sandringham House was played by Germany's Nordkirchen Castle, picked by director Pablo Larraín and production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas on a scouting trip; they called the setting "An Elegant prison", somewhere you wouldn't enjoy spending Christmas.
- Cinematographer Claire Mathon called shooting on film a "necessity" rather than a choice, and she and director Pablo Larraín studied sequences from Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon and A Clockwork Orange for camera movement, shot rhythm and short focal lenses.
- Most of Spencer was shot on the lighter, cheaper Super 16mm format for the ergonomics of the equipment and to save money, with 35mm stock used for scenes where the filmmakers wanted to minimise grain.
- Spencer was the last film distributed by STX Entertainment in the United Kingdom, before the company's UK division was shut down on 28 July 2022.
