Savage House

We’ve had Bridgerton‘s alternate history, a randy Catherine the Great, and even a yassified Henry VIII (lest we Millennials forget The Tudors), but now our insatiable lust for the classic period drama has been given a poxed makeover. Savage House shows a seldom-seen side of the British class system, which is routinely sanitised and portrayed with rosy-coloured whimsy in period dramas catered to American audiences. In fact, nothing is sanitised in British-American director Peter Glanz’s film, and the only things rosy-coloured are the cheeks of repugnant aristocrats Sir Chauncey Savage (Richard E. Grant) and Lady Savage (Claire Foy).

Set amid a smallpox outbreak and the Jacobite uprising, Chauncey is, like many before him, a pauper who bought his way into the aristocracy. Obsessed with social status, he purchased his title and wed Lady Savage, herself a blue blood, to rise from the peasantry. Despite climbing the social ladder, he’s determined to be accepted by the hereditary upper classes and devises a dinner party to win the favour of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire.

This is more body horror than bodice ripper, with the Savages and their crumbling stately home depicted in all their stomach-churching decrepitude: there’s maggot-infested fruit displayed in an ornate bowl, extreme close-ups of Chauncey’s rotten teeth, and pox scabs, syphilitic wounds, and leaches slithering through a grouted foot. It’s the sort of grotesque portrayal of the aristocracy only matched by Pasolini’s Salo (well, almost), and, accordingly, may put off viewers who have stomached one too many shots of carrion and gangrenous limbs.

There’s remarkable adherence to the period, with all-natural lighting via candles, in turn giving the film its dark, foreboding ambience. Grant is simply resplendent, throwing himself into the role with flamboyant gusto and fearlessly embracing the vulgarity of the character. Having played Queen Elizabeth II, Lady Savage is a twisted subversion of Foy’s most famous role. Aware of the politics of class, Lady Savage is far from a demure noblewoman, with Foy depicting her wit and guile superbly. Another actor who’s portrayed a Windsor, Jack Farthing channels the aloofness with which he imbued the erstwhile Prince Charles in Spencer, though adding a wily edge.

Essentially, Savage House is a portrait of a decaying aristocracy, yet one which is, inexplicably, still coveted by people like Chauncey, who are debilitated by their class hang-ups. This is blackly comedic class commentary of the highest order.