Sometimes you just need a laugh. After a long day, I wasn’t in the headspace for anything heavy or unsettling, so I passed on the horror movie I’d been considering and scrolled through my streaming options until something caught my eye: “Fackham Hall” (2025). The title alone made me chuckle—say it out loud in a proper British accent and you’ll get the first joke. What followed was 97 minutes of unabashed silliness that left me with a smile on my face, even if I suspect some of the more British humor sailed right over my head.
The Genesis of a Gag-Fest
“Fackham Hall” is the brainchild of comedian Jimmy Carr, who co-wrote the screenplay with his younger brother Patrick Carr and the prolific writing trio known as The Dawson Brothers (Steve and Andrew Dawson, along with their childhood friend Tim Inman). For Jimmy Carr—better known for his stand-up comedy and panel show appearances—this marked his screenwriting debut, and he approached it with characteristic irreverence. As he told press outlets, “The British Film Industry does two things very well. Period drama and comedy. Now we didn’t have time to write two movies, so we’ve had to mash the genres together.”
The result is exactly what you’d expect from that description: a full-throttle parody of British period dramas like “Downton Abbey” and “Gosford Park,” executed in the rapid-fire joke style of classics like “Airplane!” and “The Naked Gun.” According to the producers, an executive producer actually counted the jokes in an early cut and came up with a whopping 278 gags—everything from physical comedy to wordplay to visual puns. That’s nearly three jokes per minute. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.
The Story: Inheritance, Incest, and Inspector Watt
Set in 1931 England during the Great Depression (though the aristocracy seems blissfully unaffected), “Fackham Hall” centers on the Davenport family and their crumbling estate. The patriarch, Lord Humphrey Davenport (Damian Lewis), has a problem: he has no surviving male heir. In a deliciously absurd running gag, we learn that all four of his sons—named John, Paul, George, and Ringo—have died in increasingly ridiculous circumstances. The family motto, emblazoned on the estate’s gates, reads “Incestus ad Infinitum,” and that’s not just for show. To keep Fackham Hall in the family, one of Lord Davenport’s daughters must marry their cousin Archibald (Tom Felton, delightfully pompous).
Enter Eric Noone (Ben Radcliffe), a charming pickpocket and orphan who’s been tasked with delivering a letter to Lord Davenport. Through a series of misunderstandings, he’s mistaken for an applicant for a hall boy position and ends up landing the job, completely forgetting about the letter. As he rises through the ranks of the household staff, he catches the eye of Rose Davenport (Thomasin McKenzie), the youngest daughter and true future of the estate. Meanwhile, her older sister Poppy (Emma Laird) dramatically flees her wedding to Archibald, leaving Rose to potentially take her place.
Things take a darker turn when Lord Davenport is found dead on the morning after the disastrous wedding. Enter Inspector Watt (Tom Goodman-Hill), who determines that one of the assembled guests must be the killer. Eric becomes the prime suspect, particularly after he’s discovered to have robbed Lord Davenport’s desk. In a moment of genuine sweetness amidst all the chaos, Eric refuses to use Rose as his alibi to save himself, unwilling to shame her. He’s arrested and thrown in jail, while Rose reluctantly agrees to marry Archibald to save Fackham Hall.
The third act delivers twist after twist: Eric discovers he’s actually Lord Davenport’s long-lost nephew and the rightful heir to Fackham Hall. The housekeeper Mrs. McAllister (Anna Maxwell Martin) reveals herself as the killer—she’d been having an affair with Lord Davenport, and during an argument, he was accidentally stabbed, shot, poisoned, AND strangled. It’s gloriously over-the-top, and the film never asks you to take any of it seriously.
The Cast: Committed to the Bit
What makes “Fackham Hall” work as well as it does is the complete commitment of its cast. Director Jim O’Hanlon (who previously helmed episodes of “Catastrophe” and “Trying,” as well as the charmingly gag-heavy “A Touch of Cloth”) instructed his actors to play everything completely straight, treating the material with the same seriousness they’d bring to an actual period drama. The result is a delicate balance: the situations are absurd, but the characters never wink at the audience.
Thomasin McKenzie, at just 25 but already a veteran of films like “Jojo Rabbit” and “Leave No Trace,” proves she has strong comedic chops as Rose. She’s the emotional anchor of the film, bearing the weight of the central romance while delivering innately funny dialogue with impressive skill. In interviews, both she and Radcliffe admitted that the script was so funny they had trouble not breaking character during filming. McKenzie revealed that the experience was “unexpectedly similar to making a drama” because O’Hanlon insisted they take every scene seriously, forgetting about all the gags happening in the background.
Ben Radcliffe, whose previous work includes “Masters of the Air,” brings genuine charm to Eric. He recalled that when he first read the script, he felt “so sad because I was like, there’s a possibility that I might not get this role” because it was “genuinely laugh-out-loud on the page.” The chemistry between him and McKenzie is palpable, and their forbidden romance provides the film’s genuine heart.
Damian Lewis clearly relishes the opportunity to do physical comedy as Lord Davenport, complete with a manservant (Nathan McMullen) who literally serves as his arms so the lord never has to lift a finger. It’s a running gag that gets funnier each time it appears. Katherine Waterston brings dry wit to Lady Davenport, delivering some of the film’s silliest puns with perfect deadpan timing.
Tom Felton (forever Draco Malfoy in our hearts) plays pompous cousin Archibald with the right amount of caddish entitlement. And Anna Maxwell Martin, as the murderous housekeeper, is a particular highlight, handling the film’s wry, dark humor with aplomb.
Perhaps most amusingly, Jimmy Carr himself appears as the Vicar, whose inability to follow basic punctuation leads to some of the funniest sequences in the movie. It’s a meta touch that works surprisingly well.
The Humor: Kipper to the Face
The jokes in “Fackham Hall” come at you fast and from every direction. Some are subtle, others arrive, as one reviewer memorably put it, “like a kipper to the face.” There’s wordplay (a tailor shop called “Tailor Swift,” described as the “Fastest Tailor in Britain”), anachronisms (references that shouldn’t exist in 1931), sight gags, potty humor, extended dick jokes, slapstick, and elaborate misunderstanding sequences including a “Who’s on First?”-style routine involving Inspector Watt’s name.
One particularly memorable moment features a drawing-room performance of a song called “I Went to the Palace With My Willie Hanging Out!” complete with a digitally scrambled shot of the piano player’s, well, willie. It’s juvenile and ridiculous and completely shameless about it.
The film also includes running gags that build throughout, like the family’s tradition of marrying first or second cousins, leading to lines like “You are the most beautiful Davenport sister currently available.” Even J.R.R. Tolkien makes an appearance as a struggling writer—a nice touch given the 1931 setting.
Director O’Hanlon, who described the project as “that rarest of rare hen’s teeth—a genuinely funny, fiendishly clever period comedy,” aimed for a film where “if you hate ‘Downton Abbey,’ you’ll love this. If you love ‘Downton Abbey,’ you’ll love it even more.” The approach was to lovingly skewer every period drama cliché while still delivering the production values audiences love: lavish costumes, impressive sets (filmed at the stunning Knowsley Hall in Merseyside and Croxteth Hall), and a score by Oli Julian and David Arnold that takes itself seriously even when nothing else does.
The Cultural Context: A Rare Breed
What struck me most about “Fackham Hall” is how rare it is. We simply don’t get many pure comedies anymore, and we certainly don’t get many gag-a-minute parodies in the ZAZ (Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker) style. Modern comedies tend to be dramedies or films with comedic elements rather than films built entirely for laughs. Even “The Bear” on FX, famously nominated in comedy categories, is more drama with comic flourishes than pure comedy.
In some ways, “Fackham Hall” feels like a throwback to an earlier era—think the “Carry On” films, Monty Python, or even the slapstick tradition that stretches back to silent film. It’s refreshing to see a modern movie go against the grain of seriousness and create something whose sole purpose is to make you laugh. These films used to be common; now they feel like endangered species.
The film has drawn comparisons to “The Naked Gun” franchise, and that’s apt. Like those films, “Fackham Hall” throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. Some jokes land perfectly, others fall flat, but the next one is already coming before you’ve had time to process the miss. This shotgun approach means different viewers will have wildly different experiences—what kills one person will barely register with another, and vice versa.
The Criticism: Not for Everyone
I’ll be honest: not every joke landed for me. Growing up in the Philippines and now living in Singapore, some of the humor felt very specifically British in a way that left me slightly bewildered rather than laughing. There were puns and references that I suspect would have killed with a UK audience but that went over my head entirely. And some gags do overstay their welcome or get repeated once too often.
The critical reception has been decidedly mixed, which feels about right for this type of comedy. Rotten Tomatoes shows a 74% positive rating from critics, with the consensus reading: “With a gleefully affectionate tone, Fackham Hall barrels through a dizzying amount of story and nonstop gags, occasionally overwhelming itself but ultimately winning out through its fearless comic spirit.” Metacritic was less kind, assigning it a score of 54 out of 100, indicating “mixed or average reviews.”
Some critics have argued that the film lacks the “anarchic bounce” of true ZAZ classics like “Airplane!” or “The Naked Gun,” that it’s too polite and civilized even when it’s being rude. Others have noted that in an age of social media reels and viral comedy clips, some of the humor feels less fresh than it might have a decade ago. What was once rare is now commonplace online, which can make the film feel more familiar than revolutionary.
And there’s the fundamental question of whether parody still works as well in 2025 as it did in the heyday of spoofs. We live in an era of constant ironic distance and meta-commentary. Making fun of period dramas might not hit the same way it would have when those dramas were more culturally dominant and taken more seriously.
My Verdict: Sometimes Silly Is Enough
But you know what? I had fun. Not every joke worked for me, and I’m sure there were cultural references and British humor nuances I missed entirely. But I found myself smiling throughout, occasionally laughing out loud, and appreciating the sheer commitment to silliness. In a cinematic landscape dominated by franchise installments, grim dramas, and films that take themselves very seriously, there’s something genuinely refreshing about a movie that just wants to be goofy.
The production values are legitimately impressive—it looks like a real period drama, which makes the jokes land harder. The cast is uniformly game, playing their ridiculous roles with sincerity and skill. McKenzie and Radcliffe have real chemistry, and watching actors like Damian Lewis and Anna Maxwell Martin cut loose in broad comedy is a treat. The murder mystery adds a nice structural spine to hang all the jokes on, even if you never actually care whodunit.
Is “Fackham Hall” going to become a beloved comedy classic like “The Naked Gun” or “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”? Probably not. It’s too inconsistent, too hit-or-miss, and it arrived at a cultural moment when this style of comedy doesn’t have the same impact it once did. But does it need to be a classic to be worth watching? I don’t think so.
Sometimes you just need a movie that makes you laugh, that doesn’t ask you to think too hard or feel too deeply. Sometimes you need 97 minutes of actors in period costumes delivering puns and sight gags with complete commitment. Sometimes you need a movie whose title is itself a joke and which features a tailor shop called “Tailor Swift.”
After passing on that horror movie and settling in for some post-dinner comedy, “Fackham Hall” gave me exactly what I needed: a pleasant distraction, some genuine laughs, and a reminder that pure silliness still has a place in cinema. Would I recommend it to everyone? No. But if you’re in the mood for something light, if you have even a passing familiarity with period dramas, and if you can appreciate humor that ranges from subtle to face-slappingly obvious, you might find yourself enjoying this far more than you expected.
As one character in the film might say, it’s the most entertaining comedy currently available. And sometimes, that’s exactly enough.
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