A small but irritating problem about dates
At about the 1 hr 14m mark, the matriarch, Elspeth Catton, suns herself while a (for once not clearly discernable by us) song plays, and reflects on her 'modeling days' during Britpop/Blur/Oasis etc.. She then tops herself by continuing hilariously:
But then of course "Common People" came out and everybody thought it was written about me. Which was completely mortifying and ridiculous! I mean I barely knew Jarvis....“She came from Greece. She had a thirst for knowledge.” It couldn’t have been me. I’ve never wanted to know anything.But this doesn't work. The film's set in summer 2007 which is just 12 years after 'Common People' and peak Britpop. Felix is 20-ish, so he'd be 8 years old during Elspeth's supposed modeling peak (and Venetia would be 4-ish). Realistically, Elspeth's modeling days would be pre-kids&marriage, i.e., say 25 years earlier. So if we hold the 2007 date fixed we get that Elspeth's modeling days happened well before Britpop, say around early-to-mid -'80s. Alternatively, Elspeth modeling during peak Britpop works fine with a 20-ish Felix and a late-teen Venetia if the date's 2022, i.e., when the film was shot. Writer-director Fennell perhaps fell in love with the Britpop/Common People story in an early draft set contemporarily and couldn't let the gag go once she landed on a 2006/7 setting for her tale. share