Average moviegoers probably do not know the name Yorgos Lanthimos, but the Greek director has been on the rise in film circles for the last decade. This year, he released his most high-profile film yet, “The Favourite.” It’s a little less idiosyncratic than his previous work. I hope that helps it find a larger audience because this is one of my favorite films of 2018.

Set in early 18^th century England, this period piece centers on a power triangle between Queen Anne (Olivia Colman), Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) and Abigail (Emma Stone). Anne and Sarah are longtime friends, but the arrival of the conniving Abigail throws a wrench in the whole dynamic.

An undeniable strength of this movie is the three lead performers. For my money, the best one her is the outstanding Stone. She plays the opposite of what we would normally see from her. She nails the nasty, profane, conniving, humorous and desperate facets of her character with ease. It’s a brilliant performance.

Colman is probably second best in my book, effectively making Anne a ridiculous and often loathsomely shrill person. She also gives viewers a sense of the pain and tragedy that weigh down on this woman, making her more sympathetic.

So that means I put Weisz third, but that isn’t really a slight on her. She plays icy and cool well, but her acting here has enough range and depth that we later come to see her as a sympathetic and weirdly loving character. She also does this type of absurdist humor well.

Overall, I’d say it is par for the course, as I expected excellent things from these actors. Lanthimos as director, however, takes a step forward in his style in what is probably the biggest departure from his typical style.

His camera, with its wide-angle lenses, is often panning (sometimes rapidly) or tracking as these characters walk through this estate, providing the entire film with a greater sense of energy and playfulness that prevents it from feeling stagey. Lanthimos, working with new collaborator in cinematographer Robbie Ryan, also effectively used low angle shots to underline how terrible and ugly these people are.

In addition to working with a new cinematographer, Lanthimos collaborated with new screenwriters Tony McNamara and Deborah Davis, who may be the true stars of this movie. They make “The Favourite” hilarious, one of the funniest films of the year. Working with the director, they make the absurd humor land more consistently than it has in any Lanthimos film. They also add some great verbal asides that can be equally hilarious.

More crucially, the filmmakers here excel at forcing the audience to constantly reevaluate their alliances. We sympathize with each of the main characters at different points in the movie. That’s not easy to do, and the difficulty is even greater in this case because of how despicable these characters are.

Davis and McNamara also deserve praise for how they’ve worked with Lanthimos to moderate is idiosyncratic style. This is still an absurd, odd movie that I don’t know if anyone besides the Greek director could have made, but it’s also his most accessible film. I give that credit to the screenwriters.

With all that lauding, the only thing holding this movie back for me is the ending. As with every Lanthimos film I’ve seen, I struggled with the ending and what it says about the themes of this picture, which I also found a bit difficult to grasp.

“The Favourite” seems to be saying something about the consequences of playing these type of power games and the cost it can have, but at the same time it felt also a little slight. Maybe it’s just an acerbically funny film. I’m not sure, but I’ll give the filmmakers the benefit of the doubt.

Although I have those reservations, “The Favourite” is still a terrific. The acting, directing and screenplay are all fantastic. It isn’t for everybody, but it is in the conversation for my top 10 of the year. I give it four out of five stars.

“The Favourite” is rated R for strong sexual content, nudity and language. It stars Emma Stone, Oliva Colman, Rachel Weisz and Nicholas Hoult and runs 1 hour and 59 minutes.