Fackham Hall (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Jim O’HanlonRelease Date(s)
2025 (January 20, 2026)Studio(s)
Bleeker Street (Decal Releasing)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: C
Review
Parody films are always hit or miss. But when they hit they can transcend the moniker “parody”. Blazing Saddles (hell, most any film by Mel Brooks), Airplane!, and I’m Gonna Get You Sucka are just a few examples. Fackham Hall doesn’t quite transcend the genre, but it is quite funny and if you’re a fan of “upstairs/downstairs” melodramas like Downton Abbey, Howard’s End and Remains of the Day, then Fackham Hall will tickle you more than most.
The thoroughly wealthy and severely inbred Davenport Family reside in the palatial estate, Fackham Hall. Lord and Lady Davenport (Damian Lewis and Katherine Waterson) are the current residents and when their eldest daughter Poppy (Emma Laird) chooses a manure salesman over her first cousin Archibald (Tom Felton) at the altar, it falls on youngest daughter Rose (Thomasin McKenzie) to marry and save the estate. But Rose is quickly falling in love with the new hall boy, Eric Noone—a mysterious orphan with a mysterious past—so she refuses. That is until a series of unfortunate events force her hand and she has no choice but to wed. Now it’s up to Eric to unravel the mystery of his past and save the day. If you’re worried about whether you’ll get it or not with all its Britishness, Fackham Hall is not very highbrow and works on a few levels, so if you’re a straight up comedy fan, there’s a good time to be found here.
Presented in a very fine 2:35:1 HD, the video is sharp with good flesh tones and hard blacks. It has a period feel, so don’t expect “bright” colors. Audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and it’s crisp and clean. Subs are English and Spanish. The extras are a series of deleted scenes, chief among them is a fun rule of three collection of scenes following Fifi Valentine, an American wedding guest legitimately finding her husband cheating on her with various staff, all with him outlandishly denying it and her believe him. It’s a funny enough sequence that it should have stayed in the film, but glad it was captured here.
- Todd Doogan