It’s 1931, and England is in the grips of the Great Depression, but you would never know it looking at the British aristocracy. The Davenports have been lords of Fackham Hall for over 400 years. However Lord Humphry (Damian Lewis) and Lady Prudence (Katherine Waterston) have no surviving male heirs—John, Paul, George, and little Ringo all passed away. And so their family will lose ownership of the manor should Humphrey pass—though he is quite resilient. Succession would pass to Humprey’s nephew, Archibald Davenport (Tom Felton), so the plan is for their eldest daughter Poppy (Emma Laird) to marry her caddish cousin Archibald and keep the home in the family. But when Poppy decides she would rather marry for love, this throuws things into chaos and the burden now falls upon her younger sister, Rose (Thomasin McKenzie, Last Night in Soho), who also has no desire to wed Archibald.

Meanwhile, in London, a smart and charming pickpocket named Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe) is paid to deliver a letter to Lord Davenport. Eric was orphaned after the war, and was raised by the Sisters of Mercy. As he is riding his bike to the manor, he crosses paths with Rose, and literally falls head over heels for her. As Eric tries to deliver the letter, butler Cyril (Tim McMullan) mistakes him for the for the new hall boy. He goes along with it, accepting the new position among the downstairs staff. He soon discovers that Rose is a Davenport. Not growing up in this world of aristocracy, he is not aware of the limits and customs of class, and welcomes the chance to explore a relationship. But Rose doesn’t necessarily subscribe to these customers either. So this complicates things as Rose tries to decide between following her heart, and helping to secure her family’s legacy.

Fackham Hall comes from comedian Jimmy Carr, and is very much in the style of Naked Gun, but set in this quintessentially British world. On the surface it looks like another Downton Abbey or big Merchant Ivory epic. Everything is played straight, with no emphasizing of jokes or breaking of character, but each scene is filled with layers of ridiculous dialogue, puns, pop-culture references, and sight-gags. No matter how absurd things get—such as porter Alexander (Nathan McMullen) literally serving as the hands, or even chair of Lord Humphry—the actors always play it serious, like nothing is out of the ordinary, which really adds to the humor. There’s one instance where a maid happily tells Rose that she covered for her absence by telling people that Rose was busy with a tricky dump. There is just so much going on in every scene that you could re-watch it over and over and still find something new.

The film is wonderfully cast, with all of the actors fully-committed, no matter what ridiculous things they are asked to do or say. I’m more used to seeing Damian Lewis playing deep, serious roles, but he’s hilarious in this. And Thomasin McKenzie & Ben Radcliffe have great rom-com style chemistry. The film is fully-stocked with many fun and wacky characters—whether they be a Davenport, part of the downstairs staff, or guests at a party being held at Fackham Hall. One of my favorites is Jimmy Carr playing the Vicar, who has a knack for adding misleading and awkward pauses in his sermons. There are also some really funny recurring themes. One guest at the party is J.R.R. Tolkien, the writer (Jason Done) and we see him in many discussions that are supposed to serve as inspirations for various Lord of the Rings characters or aspects—though some of these take hilarious unexpected turns.

Overall, I think the humor works well. When I first saw this in the theater, there were folks in the audience laughing out loud throughout. While the film parodies British period dramas, rom-coms and tv shows in general, the blue humor can get a bit too much at times. There are so many jokes about incest (the Fackham Hall motto is incestus ad infinitum) and masturbation, and even a joke about pedophilia. There’s also a few jokes that delve into modern-day lingo that fell a little flat for me. But overall the jokes fly at a mile a minute, so if one doesn’t land, there are plenty more to come.

Decal Releasing has released Fackham Hall only on Blu-ray & DVD for physical media, but it is also available in 4K on digital. We were sent the Blu-ray version for review. The visual presentation looks quite good overall, capturing the beauty of the setting, the sweeping overhead shots of the manor, and the activities inside the stately home. While the picture looks clean and clear, it also felt slightly lacking in sharpness. This wasn’t enough to deter any enjoyment, but felt a bit flatter than other things I had recently watched. The audio track provides clear dialogue and makes nice use of the stereo and surround channels to add ambiance and provide an immersive experience. It also showcases the film’s beautiful and peppy orchestral score.

The only bonus material included on the Blu-ray release is a collection of 11 minutes of deleted scenes. It’s a shame there was no commentary track or featurette as I would have loved to have heard how this came about. The disc is packed in a standard HD keepcase. Our review copy did not include any slipcover. As with all Decal releases, no digital copy is included.

What’s Included:

Film (1:37:13):

• 1080p / Widescreen 2.35:1
• Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Audio Description DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
• Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Extras:

• Deleted Scenes (11:02)
  Collection of 15 deleted scenes. There is no Play All option, but they play back-to-back once one is selected. Among the clips is a recurring gag of Fifi catching Bert having sex with someone else, and Bert explaining it away with some ridiculous excuse.
  • A Big Splash
  • A Broiled Oyster
  • Reviving Patricia
  • Amphetamines
  • Bollocks For Eyeballs
  • Have You Seen Bert?
  • She’s Teasing You, Archie
  • Act Like An Object
  • His Balls Are Exquisite
  • Kinky Sex
  • Pub Song
  • How to Murder People
  • There’s A Letter For You, Sir
  • Book oOf Manors
  • An Evening Stroll

Final Thoughts:

Fackham Hall is a fun parody of British period TV shows and films, with a bit of rom-com mixed in, all done in the style of Naked Gun, where the wackiness of the dialogue and situations are played completely straight. The cast is wonderful, the production value is excellent, and the jokes and sight gags come a mile a minute. It’s certainly worth a look if you are a fan of the cast or of the style of production they are parodying.