Meerkat Movie Reviews: Fackham Hall
Proper, laugh-till-you-cry comedies feel like they’ve been something of a rarity in recent years, but in 2025 we’ve had two absolutely hilarious movies. The Naked Gun was a fantastic reboot, breathing new life into the spoof genre, and now Fackham Hall has landed.
Satirising the period drama with expert effect, Fackham Hall does what all great parody films do: it never takes itself too seriously, but the actors take it all seriously, with perfectly straight-laced performances that defy the absurdities erupting all around them. Centring around the aristocrats of 1930s Britain, and the desire to marry off family to, um, family, the film pokes endless fun at the gentry, and blends clever witty remarks and jokes with some typically daft slapstick, as parodies so often do. However, Fackham Hall doesn’t go to quite the same over-the-top territory as The Naked Gun or the Scary Movie franchise, providing a slightly more understated thrust, as befits a British comedy about posh Brits.
Perhaps that is where the film’s greatest strength lays. It’s got pomp and ceremony, and it carries itself with a certain ironic and ridiculous dignity, an irony that only heightens the humour. However, if I were to assert one other aspect of this film to champion, it is that at its core, it is only one thing, and never tries to be anything else.
Fackham Hall is a comedy. It’s not a dramedy, or an action-comedy, or a comedy-horror, it exists solely for the purpose of making people laugh. It knows its remit, and it sticks to it, seeing to it that there is not a single scene without a quip, joke, or pratfall. In fact, Fackham Hall is relentless in its desire to have people guffawing till they cry. It is cleverer than it may seem at first glance, and assisted in no small part by the earnest performances of its cast.
Fackham Hall is also a film that we arguably need right now. The world can feel a bit like a dumpster fire, so having the opportunity to pause, and laugh, and let the world’s troubles wash away in the face of such silly absurdity, is a wonderful feeling. Fackham Hall is a gift of laughter, of uplifting joy in a pure and simple sense. If you are feeling stressed, or upset, and you need to disconnect from the strains of modern life, you could do worse than to check it out. 10/10
‘Kat Comments