Kristen Stewart's Naturalistic Performance Clashes with Pablo Larraín's Mannerist Film 'Spencer'

Pablo Larraín's 2021 film 'Spencer' presents a stylized, camp portrayal of Princess Diana's psychological unraveling during a Christmas at Sandringham. Kristen Stewart delivers a meticulously observed performance, capturing Diana's physical mannerisms and media-trained persona with ghostly detail. Yet the casting creates a mismatch, as Stewart's naturalistic acting style contrasts sharply with the film's heavy-handed symbolism and clichéd dialogue. The screenplay employs obvious metaphors—a dead pheasant, a wild mare, bulimic vomiting—and features Diana hallucinating Anne Boleyn's ghost. Jonny Greenwood's ominous score underscores the melodrama. The film works best in its abstract final montage, where Stewart's spontaneity conveys Diana's charisma and image-awareness. Unofficially a sequel to Larraín's 'Jackie' (2016), which starred Natalie Portman, 'Spencer' shares that film's heightened, hysterical approach to female trauma. Stewart herself, in interviews, has expressed greater affinity for her work with director Olivier Assayas, citing their collaborations as her best. The film ultimately constrains Stewart's talent, much as it argues the royal family constrained Diana.