Fackham Hall – A Fast-Paced, Funny Parody of Downton Abbey Which Is Pleasantly Throwaway.

Perhaps the sense of end times in the air: subsequent to a lengthy span of dormancy, the parody is making a comeback. This summer observed the rebirth of this unserious film style, which, at its best, skewers the grandiosity of overly serious genres with a barrage of heightened tropes, physical comedy, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Playful eras, apparently, create an appetite for self-awarely frivolous, gag-packed, refreshingly shallow entertainment.

The Newest Addition in This Silly Resurgence

The most recent of these absurd spoofs arrives as Fackham Hall, a takeoff on the British period drama that needles the highly satirizable pretensions of gilded English costume epics. The screenplay comes from British-Irish comedian Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film finds ample of source material to draw from and uses all of it.

From a ridiculous beginning and culminating in a outrageous finale, this amusing upper-class adventure packs every one of its runtime with gags and sketches running the gamut from the juvenile to the authentically hilarious.

A Pastiche of Upstairs, Downstairs

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall offers a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and excessively servile help. The plot focuses on the hapless Lord Davenport (played by a delightfully mannered Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Following the loss of their four sons in various tragic accidents, their plans now rest on marrying off their offspring.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the family goal of an engagement to the appropriate close relative, Archibald (a perfectly smarmy Tom Felton). Yet when she pulls out, the onus shifts to the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), who is a spinster of a woman" and and holds dangerously modern beliefs concerning women's independence.

The Film's Humor Lands Most Effectively

The parody fares much better when sending up the stifling expectations imposed on early 20th-century ladies – a topic often mined for earnest storytelling. The stereotype of idealized womanhood offers the best punching bags.

The storyline, as one would expect from a deliberately silly spoof, takes a back seat to the jokes. Carr serves them up arriving at a pleasantly funny clip. The film features a murder, a bungled inquiry, and an illicit love affair featuring the charming pickpocket Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

A Note on Pure Silliness

Everything is in lighthearted fun, but that very quality imposes restrictions. The amplified absurdity of a spoof may tire over time, and the mileage on this particular variety expires in the space between sketch and feature.

At a certain point, you might wish to go back to a realm of (very slight) logic. Yet, one must applaud a sincere commitment to the craft. In an age where we might to distract ourselves relentlessly, it's preferable to laugh at it.