Spencer director Pablo Larraín knew Kristen Stewart was the right choice to play Princess Diana when he heard her speak. “Once she was confident with the accent and all the sort of practical verbal issues, she became a poetic combination of herself and Diana,” he said. “She created a character who can ride illusions in a very intimate and mysterious way.” You can see that in the trailer released on Thursday by Neon.
Spencer looks like an empathetic portrait of Diana as someone who’s forced to be someone she’s not (it’s also a good companion piece to Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s Oprah interview). “You have to be able to do things you hate,” she’s instructed. “There has to be two of you. There’s the real one, and the one they take pictures of.” If she doesn’t play by the Royal Family’s severe rules, she worries she’ll be killed. A little something for the conspiracy-heads out there. And corgis for the rest of us.
You can watch the trailer above. Here’s the official plot synopsis:
The marriage of Princess Diana and Prince Charles has long since grown cold. Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. But this year, things will be profoundly different. Spencer is an imagining of what might have happened during those few fateful days.
Spencer, which also stars Jack Farthing, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, and Sally Hawkins, opens on November 5.