Fackham Hall Review – A Rapid-Fire, Witty Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Pleasantly Ephemeral.

It could be the sense of an ending era around us: following a long period of inactivity, the comedic send-up is staging a comeback. The past few months witnessed the rebirth of this playful category, which, in its finest form, skewers the pretensions of overly serious genres with a barrage of exaggerated stereotypes, sight gags, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Playful periods, so it goes, give rise to knowingly unserious, joke-dense, welcome light entertainment.

The Newest Addition in This Silly Resurgence

The newest of these silly send-ups is Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that jabs at the easily mockable airs of gilded English costume epics. Penned in part by British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and directed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film finds ample of material to draw from and exploits every bit of it.

Opening on a ludicrous start all the way to its ludicrous finish, this entertaining aristocratic caper fills all of its runtime with puns and routines that vary from the childish up to the genuinely funny.

A Pastiche of Upstairs, Downstairs

Much like Downton, Fackham Hall offers a caricature of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious servants. The story centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (played by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their male heirs in separate calamitous events, their aspirations are pinned on securing unions for their two girls.

The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has secured the family goal of a promise to marry the appropriate kinsman, Archibald (a wonderfully unctuous Tom Felton). Yet once she backs out, the pressure shifts to the single elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster already and and holds dangerously modern ideas regarding women's independence.

Where the Comedy Works Best

The parody fares much better when joking about the stifling norms forced upon pre-war ladies – an area often mined for self-serious drama. The trope of idealized womanhood provides the best punching bags.

The plot, as one would expect from a purposefully absurd spoof, is secondary to the gags. Carr serves them up coming at a consistently comedic rate. There is a homicide, a farcical probe, and an illicit love affair involving the plucky pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

A Note on Pure Silliness

Everything is for harmless amusement, though that itself has limitations. The amplified silliness inherent to parody might grate after a while, and the mileage for this specific type expires somewhere between a skit and feature.

Eventually, one may desire to go back to stories with (at least a modicum of) reason. Yet, you have to respect a genuine dedication to the craft. If we're going to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, let's at least find the humor in it.