Fackham Hall – A Brisk, Witty Parody of Downton Abbey That's Delightfully Throwaway.

Maybe the feeling of an ending era around us: following a long period of inactivity, the comedic send-up is making a return. The recent season witnessed the rebirth of this lighthearted genre, which, when done well, skewers the self-importance of pompously earnest dramas with a flood of heightened tropes, visual jokes, and dumb-brilliant double entendres.

Unserious eras, so it goes, create an appetite for deliberately shallow, laugh-filled, refreshingly shallow entertainment.

The Newest Entry in This Absurd Wave

The newest of these silly send-ups arrives as Fackham Hall, a Downton Abbey spoof that jabs at the easily mockable pretensions of wealthy English costume epics. The screenplay comes from UK-Irish comic Jimmy Carr and helmed by Jim O'Hanlon, the film has a wealth of inspiration to draw from and exploits every bit of it.

From a absurd opening all the way to its preposterous conclusion, this enjoyable aristocratic caper packs each of its hour and a half with jokes and bits ranging from the childish up to the authentically hilarious.

A Pastiche of Aristocrats and Servants

Similar to Downton, Fackham Hall presents a pastiche of overly dignified the nobility and very obsequious servants. The narrative centers on the hapless Lord Davenport (portrayed by a wonderfully pretentious Damian Lewis) and his anti-reading wife, Lady Davenport (Katherine Waterston). Having lost their male heirs in a series of unfortunate mishaps, their plans now rest on marrying off their offspring.

One daughter, Poppy (Emma Laird), has accomplished the dynastic aim of an engagement to the right first cousin, Archibald (an impeccably slimy Tom Felton). But after she backs out, the burden falls upon the unattached elder sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie), described as a "dried-up husk already and and holds dangerously modern beliefs about female autonomy.

Where the Laughs Succeeds

The spoof is significantly more successful when sending up the oppressive norms placed on Edwardian-era women – a topic often mined for po-faced melodrama. The stereotype of idealized womanhood offers the best punching bags.

The narrative thread, as is fitting for a deliberately silly send-up, takes a back seat to the bits. The co-writer keeps them maintaining a consistently comedic pace. There is a murder, a bungled inquiry, and a star-crossed attraction involving the charming street urchin Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) and Rose.

The Constraints of Frivolous Amusement

Everything is for harmless amusement, but that very quality comes with constraints. The dialed-up foolishness characteristic of the genre might grate quickly, and the entertainment value in this instance diminishes somewhere between a skit and a full-length film.

Eventually, one may desire to return to stories with (at least a modicum of) coherence. Yet, it's necessary to respect a genuine dedication to the artform. Given that we are to amuse ourselves relentlessly, we might as well laugh at it.