'Spencer' review: Kristen Stewart puts her distinctive stamp on Princess Diana

"Spencer," Pablo Larraín’s imagined version of several days in the life of Princess Diana of Wales, bills itself as "a fable from a true tragedy." It isn’t a biographical movie in the ordinary sense — the whole of a life, molded to fit a narrative arc. Instead, "Spencer" is a highly fictionalized, often hallucinatory trip through the psyche of the former Diana Spencer, played at a near-hysterical pitch by Kristen Stewart, as she crumbles under the emotionally repressive regime known as the Royal Family.

The year isn’t stated, but judging by Diana’s feathered hair, a glimpse of acid-washed denim and an upbeat pop song from Mike and the Mechanics, we are in the 1980s. It’s Christmas, and Diana is heading to Sandringham House, a royal country getaway that's about as laid-back as you might suspect. Guests must sit on a scale upon entry — "a bit of fun," everyone insists, though not for a bulimic like Diana — and even the most casual gathering still comes with a dress code.

Friendly faces are hard to find. Diana’s husband, Prince Charles (Jack Farthing), is ice cold yet simmering with resentment; Queen Elizabeth (Stella Gonet) stares daggers across her soup; Major Alistair Gregory, a fictional security chief played by the great Timothy Spall, lectures Diana on duty and sacrifice. Diana even loses her favorite maid, Maggie (a muddled character, also fictional, though Sally Hawkins does well in the role). Eventually, the lonely princess seeks help from the ghost of Anne Boleyn — a distant relative, eerily, played by Amy Manson.

Much like Larrain’s "Jackie," which cast Natalie Portman as a grieving and disintegrating Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, "Spencer" feels a little like a marketing concept: A famous star playing an even more famous person. Nevertheless, Stewart isn’t just "doing" Princess Di. She’s still the smoldering yet stammering actress we remember from "Twilight," and she puts a distinctive stamp on Diana. She’s also truly touching as a mother trying to stay strong for her children, the young princes William (Jack Nielen) and Harry (Freddie Spry).

"Spencer" features elegant dialogue from screenwriter Steven Knight ("Eastern Promises"), dreamy cinematography from Claire Mathon and a horror-tinged score from Jonny Greenwood (that’s him playing pipe organ). Still, mood and ambience are no substitute for a compelling story, and "Spencer" doesn't tell us one. Rather, it’s made up entirely of trailer moments — Diana in a dazzling dress, Diana wandering down an opulent hall, Diana ripping a pearl necklace from her throat. In the end, all the dramatics don’t add up to actual drama.