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Movie Review: Mary Queen of Scots

Scott Davis

The best historical dramas not only offer insight into a bygone era but also offer an interesting parallel to the modern-day landscape. For example, the Academy Award® winning film The King’s Speech (2010) showed the power and importance a leader’s voice and demeanor can have on their country. That film gave audiences an insight into King George VI’s struggles and had strong ties to modern times, one of the main reasons it became a huge hit. The new historical drama Mary Queen of Scots has all the makings of a memorable period piece—great lead performances, an authentic look, and political intrigue—but the movie comes up drastically short of its lofty expectations. With a script that plays as one note and direction that feels uninspired at times, Mary Queen of Scots is a below average entry to the historical drama genre. 

Implied by the film’s title, Mary Queen of Scots focuses on Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) who is the Queen of Scotland in 1569. Drama ensues when those around Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie) believe that Mary, who is also her cousin, is plotting to overthrow Elizabeth and rule over both England and Scotland. While the film’s marketing material might suggest that two are facing off against each other, the film really focuses on each individual character showcasing how they react to certain historical developments. It’s like watching a chess match with the players in two separate rooms, which is certainly not the film’s biggest weakness, the two talented actresses do not share as much screen time as you might think. In fact, while it makes sense that in a movie called Mary Queen of Scots that Mary would receive more screen time, it is somewhat shocking at how much less screen time Queen Elizabeth I gets here, making it feel more like a Saoirse Ronan vehicle rather than a movie that also stars Margot Robbie.

While the screen time split makes sense for the story, there are numerous other shortcomings with the film’s script and direction. The film is based on the book Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy and was adapted for the screen by Beau Willimon. Fans of the series House of Cards will be familiar with Willimon’s work as he was the show-runner for the first four seasons of the series for Netflix. He tries to bring that political sharpness and intrigue to Mary Queen of Scots but fails to create anything remotely interesting. Many of the film’s characters, especially the supporting cast, are one note and feel more like scripted characters rather than actual people. Maybe if he had more time to flesh them out over a television season these characters would be more interesting, but in a two-hour film, they just feel flat. The less-than-dynamic characters do not sell the political intrigue, and while Ronan and Robbie certainly try to elevate the source material, they can only do so much.

While a subpar script is certainly hard for any film to overcome, direction and acting can help elevate such a film to watchable heights; the former fails to do just that here. First-time director Josie Rourke doesn’t do anything remotely interesting with the source material or historical setting. Most of the landscapes are bland, colorless, and unidentifiable from one scene to the next. The scenes that take place indoors are often hard to distinguish from one another as we never really get any establishing shots to understand when we are jumping from scene to scene. Between those points and the lack of conveyance of the passage of time, Rourke fails at establishing the film’s setting, something that is important for a historical drama.

Saoirse Ronan and Jack Lowden in “Mary Queen of Scots.”

Although there are plenty of things to nitpick with Mary Queen of Scots, the two main leads are not one of them. This film features two of last year’s Academy Award® Best Actress nominees, and they both show off their talent. Ronan has more to do and is convincing as a young queen with an eager attitude and unwavering strength. Many of her scenes show her going toe to toe with male counterparts, and she clearly comes out the winner in those scenes. Robbie is in the film considerably less, but her performance is stoic and impressive. Neither role is glamorous, but it is clear why these two rising stars took these roles; they were given plenty of chances to show off their range and prowess. It’s a shame that we don’t get more scenes of the two sharing the screen, but there is no shortage of acting fireworks in this film.

Overall, Mary Queen of Scots is a below average historical drama that features terrific performances from the leads. The script and direction let the two stars down, which is disappointing for any historical film buffs. We will probably have to refer to Mary Queen of Scots as an Academy Award® nominated film because of its costume and makeup design, but many of the other film’s aspects are not worthy for the royal acting on display.

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Scott Davis

Scott Davis is a recent graduate of Oakland University where he earned a degree in journalism. He worked for the student newspaper on campus, The Oakland Post, where he became the paper's managing editor. He also earned a minor in Cinema Studies at OU. Scott enjoys all things film and TV related, especially the blockbuster kind. He might be the biggest Christopher Nolan fan you know.
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