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Mary Queen of Scots explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird).
Queen of France at 16, and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry, but iInstead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. Alas, Scotland and England fall under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie – I, Tonya). Each young Queen beholds her “sister” in fear and fascination.
Rivals in power and in love, and female regents in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth’s sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones – and change the course of history.
Mary Queen of Scots has a cracking cast, and with two great female leads (even if neither of them are English – but then look at The Affair where both male and female leads are Brits and the characters are American), I’m really looking to see how this turns out. I don’t bother with history too much, so I’ll just let the film tell me the tale, and it will do so in the UK on January 18th, 2019, so is going for Oscar glory, no doubt, rather like Ms Ronan and Ms Robbie do on a regular basis.
Director: Josie Rourke
Screenplay: Beau Willimon
Novel: John Guy
Also stars: Gemma Chan, Joe Alwyn, Guy Pearce, David Tennant, Jack Lowden, Ian Hart, Brendan Coyle, Martin Compston, Adrian Lester, James McArdle
Check out the trailer below:
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.