by Jake Bourgeois,Contributing Writer
I was so shocked when the trailer for Fackham Hall came on when I was waiting for another movie to start that my reaction when it ended was, “That actually looks funny.”
Color me even further surprised that it works for an entire feature-length runtime.
The spoof film follows the Davenport family, led by Lord and Lady Davenport (Damian Lewis, Katherine Waterston), who are looking to marry off their daughters (Thomasin McKenzie, Emma Laird) to their cousin (Tom Felton) to ensure that the historic titular home can stay in the family. Things get complicated when Rose (McKenzie), looking to marry for love instead of duty, falls for the new porter (Ben Radcliffe).
Perhaps, in a weird sort of way, I was the perfect audience for this. I never really got into Downton Abbey, so I was already of a mind to make fun of the ridiculousness of the aristocratic system. The other part of the formula that clicked into place when the credits rolled. One of the two minds the idea came from was Jimmy Carr — who gets an idea and a writing credit in what is a pretty full writing room. I like Carr and his comedic sensibilities, and his rapid-fire style works well for the joke-a-minute pace that a spoof like this requires.
Carr also happens to be one of my highlights of the film, as a recurring vicar with a recognizable mustache and a problem understanding how to read punctuation. It was the same joke over and over, and it was still funny to me — and that goes for much of the movie. There are a lot of repetitive jokes that rely on the fact that you’re expecting them to be funny. Those largely worked for me, and were a big reason why I was able to have fun. The “helping hands” gag always gave me a chuckle. There’re also some great sight gags that work — my favorite being the poor, blind gardener — while also fitting in the world it’s spoofing. Whether it’s visual or a pun, the jokes are in, out, and onto the next one.
While it makes sense that Carr, as a part of the writing team, would be able to get on this film’s wavelength, everyone understands the assignment. I really enjoyed McKenzie in the lead role. While we’ve seen her be funny — she’s great in some of the lighter moments in Jojo Rabbit— but she’s never really led a straight-up comedy. She does so capably here. Radcliffe as our other lead also handles things well. Other standouts include Lewis as the family’s foolish patriarch, Felton as a snotty, spoiled brat used to getting his way (sound familiar?), and Tom Goodman-Hill as Inspector Watt, who serves both as a sendup of classic detectives like Hercule Poirot and an excuse to launch into an Abbott & Costello routine. Everyone knows the key here is to play things as straight as possible, and they stick to that throughout.
That being said, it’s a very low-ceiling film. When I say I’m having fun and laughing at the jokes, we’re not talking about big belly laughs — more appreciative chuckles. And while, for the most part, the jokes work, sometimes they don’t, which leaves the audience in sort of a waiting game. The look of the film itself is very competently (if not standardly) shot, which is a good recreation of how what it’s spoofing is shot, but doesn’t make what you’re looking at very interesting if it’s not in service of a visual gag.
2025 has been a surprisingly good year for spoofs. If films like this and The Naked Gun mean that we could get a legitimately good spoof or two every year moving forward again, I’m totally here for it.
Rating: Liked It
Fackham Hall is currently playing in theaters
You can read more from Jake Bourgeois, and follow him on Bluesky and Letterboxd