Fackham Hall, a new spoof of the Downton Abbey genre, aims to parody the historical romantic costume drama in the style of Airplane! and The Naked Gun. However, while the film is amusing enough, its jokes mostly land in the light chuckle zone rather than delivering the anarchic comedy expected from such a parody.
The title itself is a pun that only becomes clear when pronounced with a Cockney accent by a servant, sounding like 'Fuck 'em all!' The film follows the aristocratic Davenport family in 1931, with sisters Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) and Poppy (Emma Laird) tasked with marrying suitable cousins to preserve the family wealth. The running gag of incestuous marriages is one of the film's wittier elements.
Directed by Jim O'Hanlon from a script by five writers, including Jimmy Carr, Fackham Hall meticulously recreates the world it parodies. Damian Lewis plays Lord Davenport with a straight face, embodying clueless entitlement, while Katherine Waterston's Lady Davenport describes her 23-year-old daughter as a dried-up spinster. Other gags include a hunting party turning into friendly fire and a character reading a novel titled 'One Shade of Gray.'
Despite some obscene jokes aimed at puncturing the genre's polite surface, the film lacks the aggressive spirit of classic ZAZ comedies like The Naked Gun. The jokes land gently, and even a raunchy song titled 'I Went to the Palace With My Willie Hanging Out!' fails to fully detonate. Fackham Hall is a mildly fun but overly civilized spoof that never quite reaches its comedic potential.
