With its stately homes, tightly laced corsets and barely concealed class tensions, the British period drama has long been ripe for parody. Fackham Hall, a new feature from director Jim O’Hanlon (“The Punisher”, Your Christmas or Mine?), takes full advantage — offering a gleefully anarchic send-up of upstairs-downstairs conventions, brimming with quick-fire gags and a distinctly irreverent affection for the genre it skewers.
Tonally closer to Airplane!, Top Secret and Monty Python than to Downton Abbey or Gosford Park, the film centres on Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe – “Masters of the Air”), a charming pickpocket who cons his way into employment at the grand English manor of Fackham Hall. Once inside, he finds himself unexpectedly rising through the household ranks and falling for the family’s daughter, Rose Davenport (Thomasin McKenzie – Last Night in Soho).
When a sudden death shatters the estate’s rigid order, Eric becomes the prime suspect, and the story pivots from broad comedy to whodunit. Based on the newly-released trailer, the result promises a brisk mix of slapstick, wordplay and social satire, played out against the backdrop of an immaculately absurd vision of the British aristocracy.
The ensemble cast includes Katherine Waterston, Emma Laird, Tom Felton and Damian Lewis, with a screenplay penned by Jimmy Carr, Patrick Carr, Andrew Dawson, Steve Dawson, and Tim Inman — a team well-versed in sharp, quick-witted comedy.
Fan-owned entertainment company Legion M has partnered with Bleecker Street for financing and distribution, with Fackham Hall set for theatrical release on December 5th.
