Written and Directed by Peter Glanz | 113 min | ▲▲1/2 | Available to rent on VOD
Welcome to 18th Century England and an estate in the North, set away from the violence of the Jacobite rebellion and a virulent outbreak of the pox but hardly free of mud, rodents, maggots, or the stink of gangrene. This is the kind of movie that makes you grateful smell-o-vision never took off.
Sir Chauncey Savage (Richard E Grant) and Lady Georgina Savage (Claire Foy) are a wealthy couple barely hanging on to their social standing. That’s because Chauncey is a grifter, hustler, and gambler, a man who married his wife for her family’s money, promptly spending it all.
Despite this, they seem strangely happy with each other, which may be a surprise since they’re both boinking members of the staff — he’s with her ladies maid, Dorothy (Bel Powley), she with his valet and wing man, Reginald (Jack Farthing) — who are also secretly plotting to murder their master. Meanwhile their daughter, Fanny (Kíla Lord Cassidy), is fascinated by a forthcoming eclipse and a dollhouse full of mice.
Into this domestic situation comes word of a visit of genuine nobility, the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire. The Savages will do everything they can to live up to the expectations of their class and prepare their home for guests, with the association hopefully elevating them beyond Chauncey’s self-destructive habits.
Savage House is lightly humorous, sometimes bleak, often grotesque, and unfortunately overlong. It’s got a muddled tone in the later going and stricken throughout with a heavy-handed voice-over, which doesn’t do it any favours. Glanz’s biggest credit is dubious, one of the worst Marvels, Captain America: Brave New World, but taken as a whole there’s a fair amount to enjoy in his portrait of fervent social climbers in an unorthodox marriage.
The film’s biggest assets is its cast. Grant, who will always have a little of Withnail in him, clearly adores roles that allow him to go big — from Hudson Hawk to Saltburn — and scream “How DARE you!” and toast, “chin-chin.” Foy is always reliable, while her posh accent might bring occasional reminders of her time on The Crown. Finally, the art direction is superb, but you still might feel like a good wash at the film’s conclusion.
