Fackham Hall Movie Review

Fackham Hall (2025)

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Written by: Steve Dawson & Andrew Dawson & Tim Inman & Jimmy Carr & Patrick Carr (written by), Jimmy Carr & Patrick Carr (based on an original idea by)
Directed by: Jim O'Hanlon
Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Ben Radcliffe, Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston, Tom Felton, Emma Laird
Rated: PG-13
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Plot
A new porter forms an odd bond with the youngest daughter of a well-known United Kingdom family, the Davenports, headed by Lord and Lady Davenport who deal with the epic disaster of their eldest daughter's wedding.

Verdict
The problem with parody movies is that they typically tackle a specific property, and that makes the parody a companion piece to the original. It can't stand on it's own as the jokes just aren't as funny without knowing the source material. This is crammed so full of comedy that you almost need to watch it twice to catch it all, but it's also a lot of throw everything in. This offers enough silly jokes and wordplay that if you like slapstick this would provide more than a few laughs, but I don't particular care for slapstick or parody.
Skip it.

Review
This is a Downton Abbey (2010) parody, and the jokes start immediately. The comedy is so dense with background jokes, blink and you'll miss them. The very motto on the estate's sign is a reference to the family's propensity to marry family.

Katherine Waterston, Damien Lewis, Emma Laird play Lady, Lord, Poppy Davenport

Lord Davenport (Damian Lewis) must marry his daughter Poppy (Emma Laird) to cousin Archibald (Tom Felton) to keep the estate in the family. He has no male heirs, but a cousin would suffice. Poppy stops the wedding at the altar and runs off with a manure salesman. Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston) pushes her other daughter Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) to marry the cousin, but of course she doesn't want to.

Rose falls for the new servant Eric (Ben Radcliffe) who was accidentally hired, originally tasked with getting a message to the Lord. He seems to have forgotten about that.

The comedy can certainly be crude, though there's a running joke that Lord Davenport can't lift a finger for himself with a staff member always behind him, lending a hand. Having watched Downton Abbey makes this much funnier as the show is the basis for most of the jokes.

When Lord Davenport is killed, after narrowly surviving two deaths earlier having been shot twice, new servant Eric is the main suspect.

Rose must marry her cousin to save the estate with Eric in jail. She can't stand Archibald as he's chauvinistic and arrogant. Eric escapes prison to stop the wedding while the housekeeper admits what happened to Lord Davenport.

This never goes long without some kind of joke. To really capture Downton, this needs more marriages and car wrecks. The vicar is quite comical with his inconsistent punctuation leading to ridiculous quotes and commands that stray from the intended text. Lord Davenport's murder scene is absolutely ridiculous. It's a silly movie as parodies often are.