Directed by: Josie Rourke
Starring: Saorise Ronan, Margot Robbie, David Tennant, Guy Pearce, Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, Gemma Chan, Adrian Lester, Ian Hart, James McArdle
Mary, Queen of Scots plays like a 16th-century soap opera, and it works on that level for the bulk of the movie. But, I could not fully embrace it, despite the strong performances from Ronan and Robbie. There comes a point in which people are double-crossing and triple-crossing each other, with allegiances changing on a dime. Each Queen's advisory council muck everything up to the point in which it is a wonder why Elizabeth or Mary would take them seriously. Mary, Queen of Scots soon feels like As the Queen's Court Turns.
I won't go into too much detail about all of the players involved, because it would drive me, and more importantly you, mad. The movie begins at the execution of Mary in 1587 and flashes back to 1560. Mary (Ronan) returns home to Scotland to sit on the throne of Scotland. She is eighteen, but already widowed after living in France since her marriage at fifteen to a French royal. She naively believes her authority as queen will be unchallenged, but her half-brother James (McArdle) and various clans are all looking to assert their power. Scotland isn't exactly the land in which a female ruler was accepted easily. In neighboring England, Queen Elizabeth I (Robbie) is more experienced at being a monarch, but her job is no less easy. Her right hand William Cecil (Pearce) advises Elizabeth strongly to not name Mary as her successor, despite the fact that Elizabeth cannot produce an heir. Soon, Elizabeth and Mary are at odds from afar, and this leads to potential war between the nations and a bitter rivalry between the two women, who only meet near the film's end after Mary is ousted as queen and sent into exile. We soon learn what leads up to Mary's eventual execution, part of which is caused by Elizabeth's suspicions that Mary is a threat to her crown.
Mary is first expected to go through with an arranged marriage to Elizabeth's lover Robert Dudley (Alwyn), but in probably the most moving scene in the movie, Elizabeth backtracks on this union due to her jealousy over Robert. Mary soon finds another suitor in Henry Stuart (Lowden), who pleases Mary enough sexually to win her over, although later finds he may not be the ideal husband. He is looking to usurp her throne and is revealed to be homosexual: two things which would stand in the way of a successful marriage. Mary soon has to endure numerous betrayals and attempts on her life and the crown. Whoever said it was good to be the king (or queen in this case) didn't see this movie.
Ronan and Robbie give us two equally complex royals and polar opposite temperaments. Mary is naive despite her worldly travel and education. She is too trusting, too quick to forgive, and believes too much in her subjects' loyalty. Elizabeth keeps her emotions close to the vest mostly, and while she is able to keep control of her court, the business of the monarchy has robbed her of her womanhood and her humanity. "I am more man now than a woman," she tells Mary, mostly because she is the only female and an all-male club of scheming men who are positioning themselves for power.
Soon, Mary, Queen of Scots is bogged down by all of the royal intrigue and politics. I found myself weary of it all. I was intrigued out.
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