Velvet, powdered wigs, and Claire Foy in a corset on the Barbican red carpet.
That was Wednesday evening. Savage House, the brand new British black comedy from writer-director Peter Glanz, had its world premiere at SXSW London on 3 June. Tomorrow it opens properly. With a release date of 5 June 2026, it will be released by Paramount Pictures across the UK, Ireland and US through Republic Pictures and Altitude Film Entertainment.
This week, Tatler published a making-of feature. The Irish Times, AV Club and Variety have all already dropped their early reviews. So here’s the lot, before you book Friday tickets.
The Quick Facts
The key points for anyone heading to the cinema:
- Title. Savage House.
- Release date. Friday 5 June 2026, UK, Ireland and US.
- World premiere. 3 June 2026 at SXSW London, taking place at the Barbican Centre.
- Director and writer. Peter Glanz.
- Stars. Claire Foy as Lady Savage, Richard E. Grant as Sir Chauncey Savage.
- Distributor. Paramount Pictures.
- Running time. 114 minutes.
- Certification. UK rating set by the BBFC ahead of release.
What The Film Is About
Ruthless and decidedly British.
Sir Chauncey Savage, a near-bankrupt eighteenth-century aristocrat played by Richard E. Grant, has spent his way through almost all his wife’s family money. Lady Savage, played by Claire Foy, married him for the wit and is now stuck dealing with the fallout.
The setup tightens fast:
- The stately home. Crumbling, mortgaged, neighbours wise to the situation.
- The health emergency. A smallpox outbreak spreading through the country.
- The political backdrop. The Jacobite uprising unfolding around them.
- The trigger. Word arrives that the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire might be coming to dinner.
That dinner is the driving force of the story. The Savages decide to host the night of their lives. With basically no money. Through gout, infidelity, social ruin, and what the Irish Times helpfully described as “much boozing, humping and double dealing.”
The official synopsis puts it like this:
“Set against the backdrop of eighteenth century England, a massive pox outbreak, and Jacobite Uprising — this is a timely and darkly satirical story of Sir Chauncey Savage and Lady Savage’s blind pursuit of a better life. It is not without a tinge of irony that their family name is the Savages, for this is a Savage House indeed. Filled with duels, decadence, and bloodshed, this is a madcap play on class and power.”
Who Else Is In It
The supporting cast is a roll call of British and Irish acting talent.
- Jack Farthing. Previously in The Lost Daughter, Spencer and Poldark.
- Bel Powley. Coming off A Small Light and The Diary Of A Teenage Girl.
- Kíla Lord Cassidy. Already a known quantity from The Wonder.
- Richard McCabe. Recently in Napoleon.
- Vicki Pepperdine. Last seen in Poor Things.
- Pip Torrens. Familiar from The Crown and The Iron Lady.
- Sebastian Armesto, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Michael Culkin, Tony Way, Nicholas Woodeson and Miles Jupp filling out the rest of the ensemble.
If you have watched any prestige British costume drama in the last five years, you will recognise nearly every face on screen.
The Crew Behind It
The making-of coverage has been rather more about the crew than the cast. There’s a good reason for that.
- Director and writer. Peter Glanz. His second feature after The Longest Week with Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde. Also co-wrote Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World.
- Cinematographer. Adriano Goldman. The Emmy-winning DP behind The Crown.
- Production designer. Gary Williamson.
- Costume designer. Alex Bovaird.
- Make-up designer. Jacquetta Levon.
- Casting director. Kharmel Cochrane.
- Editor and composer. Peter Glanz himself, doing both jobs alongside writing and directing.
The hiring of Goldman is the one that tells you how much importance was given to the visuals. He perfected the painterly style of The Crown across six seasons. This is a very different kind of thing he’s doing here. Variety’s review said his work on Savage House captures “the right atmosphere of expensive decay” from the opening frame.
What The Reviews Are Saying
As of this morning there are three reviews, all from SXSW press screenings.
The picture is mixed-to-positive. The film is definitely dividing critics on tone.
- Variety. Praised the star pairing as “unexpectedly well-matched” and called the production design “lavishly spoiled finery.” Drew a comparison to Roald Dahl’s The Twits in how the film treats its characters.
- Irish Times. Described it as a “good-looking slab of period fodder” with strong performances from Grant and Foy. Noted Grant is “not much stretched” by Sir Chauncey.
- AV Club. Framed it as a “lowbrow Barry Lyndon that wallows in the mud” with deliberate vulgarity at its centre.
The tone of the film is never apologetic in any of the three reviews.
This is not an elegant Sunday-night ITV costume drama. It is supposed to be cruel, vulgar and funny. Reviewers are landing on either side of that depending on appetite.
Why Tatler Picked It Up
The Tatler making-of feature was part of a wider press push for the UK opening. The magazine ran a behind-the-scenes piece looking at the production’s location work, costume choices and casting.
Some details that have emerged across the making-of coverage this week:
- Locations. Shot across 23 historic UK locations, mainly stately homes and rural estates standing in for the Savage family seat.
- Production length. 68 shooting days. A pretty big deal for a British indie at this budget level.
- Budget. Roughly $16 million according to industry reporting. Above the median for British indie period dramas.
- Costume work. Alex Bovaird’s costume design has drawn particular attention. The central dinner-party set piece reportedly involved sourcing and constructing period-accurate garments at scale.
- Claire Foy’s verdict on the shoot. “That was genuinely fun from start to finish. Richard is a total one-off.”
What The Cast Has Actually Said
Press rounds have been running all week ahead of opening day. A few of the more interesting comments:
- Peter Glanz on why he made the film. “With everything going on in the world right now, it feels criminal to not make a film that’s saying something, that’s shining a spotlight on the absurdity of class and power.”
- Claire Foy on working with Grant. “Richard is a total one-off. The energy he brought to Chauncey was something I genuinely fed off every day on set.”
- Richard E. Grant’s broader run. This is his second high-profile period satire after Saltburn, where he played Sir James Catton. He has been leaning into the aristocratic-rotter archetype for the past three years. Savage House may be the fullest expression of it.
Where The Cast Sits In Their Careers Right Now
Both leads are coming off significant recent runs. That’s partly why the film has the traction it does on a small opening weekend.
Claire Foy has been the period-drama industry standard since The Crown in 2016. BAFTA supporting actress nomination for All Of Us Strangers. Returned to the Queen Elizabeth role in the sixth and final season of The Crown. Her existing work with Adriano Goldman on that series is what made the casting on this film work.
Richard E. Grant had his late-career renaissance with Can You Ever Forgive Me? in 2018. First Oscar nomination off the back of it. Steady prestige work since then in Loki, the Netflix Persuasion adaptation, and Saltburn. Savage House gives him the kind of lead role he has not had since Withnail And I.
Where And When To Watch
UK select cinemas, Friday 5 June. Expect Picturehouse, Curzon, Vue, Cineworld and Odeon across major cities.
Practical notes for anyone planning to go:
- Booking. Most cinema apps and websites have Friday and weekend showings live now.
- Best venues for period drama. Curzon Mayfair, Bloomsbury and Soho if you are in London. The Tyneside in Newcastle, the Glasgow Film Theatre, the Watershed in Bristol, Picturehouse cinemas elsewhere.
- Streaming window. Not yet confirmed by Paramount. Typical theatrical-to-streaming windows for releases of this size run 45 to 90 days, suggesting a Paramount Plus or premium VOD arrival in late summer.
So Should You Go See It
Depends on your appetite for the genre.
If you liked Saltburn but wanted it nastier. If you liked The Favourite but wanted it cruder. If you liked Barry Lyndon but wished it had more mud, more bodily fluids and considerably less reverence, this is probably the film for you.
If you prefer your period dramas with Sunday-night ITV restraint and a tidy moral lesson by the end, give this one a wide berth. The reviewers who disliked it disliked it strongly. The ones who liked it liked it for exactly the reasons the others did not.
Two of the best British actors working. A genuine satire about class and aspiration. Cinematography from the man behind The Crown. Made independently for $16 million and released by Paramount on a Friday in June.
Tickets are on sale now. Opening night is tomorrow.