The Awardist Oscars Best Picture nominee The Favourite is a darkly delicious battle for power By Tim Stack Tim Stack Tim Stack is a former senior writer at Entertainment Weekly. He left EW in 2019. EW's editorial guidelines Published on January 22, 2019 02:51PM EST On Feb. 24, winners will be crowned at the 91st Academy Awards. But before the red carpet is rolled out and envelopes are opened, Entertainment Weekly has inside intel on the 2019 nominees. Keep checking back at EW.com this week for spotlights on contenders in all the major categories. The FavouriteDirected by: Yorgos LanthimosTotal nominations: 10Starring: Olivia Colman, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz Best Director nominee Yorgos Lanthimos’ deliciously dark period comedy, nominated for 10 Oscars, including Best Picture, portrays the All About Eve-reminiscent rivalry between cousins Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone) for the attention of ailing Queen Anne (Best Actress nominee Olivia Colman). The battle to be the Queen’s No. 1 escalates from verbal jabs to seduction to poison. “There’s something about the power struggle between the two women fighting for the favor of a queen,” says Weisz, who along with Stone are both nominated for Best Supporting Actress. “It’s just a tremendous territory to explore.” But what makes this game of manipulation more than just 18th-century Melrose Place is the complexity of the trio of lead characters. “They have so many different colors to their personalities,” says Weisz. “It’s not like one is the angel, one’s the bitch, one’s the bad girl, or whatever. They’re everything.” And they’re very deserving of some gold statues. Related content: See all of the 2019 Oscar nominees Oscar nominee Emma Stone is a good girl gone bad in ‘The Favourite’ Rachel Weisz on playing a ‘cool and cruel and vulnerable’ power player in ‘The Favourite’