Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Humorous Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Pleasantly Lightweight.

Perhaps the sense of an ending era pervading: after years of dormancy, the comedic send-up is staging a resurgence. The past few months saw the revival of this lighthearted genre, which, at its best, lampoons the grandiosity of overly serious genres with a torrent of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and ridiculously smart wordplay.

Frivolous eras, it seems, give rise to knowingly unserious, gag-packed, pleasantly insubstantial entertainment.

The Newest Addition in This Silly Resurgence

The most recent of these silly send-ups comes in the form of Fackham Hall, a parody of Downton Abbey that jabs at the very pokeable airs of opulent UK historical series. Penned in part by UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and overseen by Jim O'Hanlon, the film finds ample of inspiration to work with and wastes none of it.

From a ludicrous start to a outrageous finale, this entertaining upper-class adventure fills each of its hour and a half with puns and routines running the gamut from the puerile to the truly humorous.

A Send-Up of Aristocrats and Servants

In the vein of Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of extremely pompous rich people and very obsequious servants. The narrative centers on the incompetent Lord Davenport (brought to life by an enjoyably affected Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). After losing their four sons in various calamitous events, their aspirations now rest on securing unions for their daughters.

The younger daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has achieved the family goal of an engagement to the appropriate kinsman, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). However after she pulls out, the onus shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), considered a spinster at 23 and and possesses unladylike beliefs regarding female autonomy.

The Film's Humor Works Best

The spoof is significantly more successful when joking about the oppressive norms placed on Edwardian-era females – a topic often mined for self-serious drama. The stereotype of idealized ladylike behavior provides the best material for mockery.

The storyline, as befitting a purposefully absurd spoof, takes a back seat to the gags. The co-writer keeps them arriving at an amiably humorous rate. Included is a homicide, an incompetent investigation, and a forbidden romance between the roguish pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

Limitations and Pure Silliness

Everything is in lighthearted fun, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The dialed-up silliness inherent to parody may tire after a while, and the mileage in this instance diminishes at the intersection of a skit and feature.

At a certain point, audiences could long to return to stories with (at least a modicum of) logic. Nevertheless, you have to applaud a sincere commitment to this type of comedy. Given that we are to entertain ourselves unto oblivion, we might as well laugh at it.