Mary Queen of Scots Review

The latest film about Mary Queen of Scots sees two important monarchs of British history going face-to-face with each other with two of the talented actresses of their generations playing them.

In 1567 Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) returns to her kingdom after the death of her husband. This leads to tensions with England because she has a claim to the English throne and within Scotland due to being a Catholic ruling a Protestant realm. Over the years Mary has to fend off threats to her rule, attempts to become the heir to the English throne and has a complex relationship with her cousin Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie).

Mary Queen of Scots was a lavish production and wonderful to look at. It was Josie Rourke’s feature film debut having previously worked as a theatrical director. The first scenes set out a great mood as Mary prays before being escorted to her execution. Rourke surrounded herself with talented people like Gladiator cinematography John Mathieson, Academy Award-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne, and Academy Award-winning make-up artist Jenny Shircore. They were able to bring the 16th century to life and the production had access to marvellous locations across the UK.

Mary Queen of Scots also had a fantastic cast. Ronan and Robbie are both Oscar nominees and they will properly win the award at some point. Both were playing powerful women who were constantly having to face off challenges from their own lords and underestimated because of their gender. Ronan’s Mary was made out to be beautiful and cunning due to her being surrounded by crude lords. The biggest criticism is Ronan voiced the character with a Scottish accent when in reality she would have had a French accent – but Mary Stuart has normally portrayed on film and TV with a Scottish accent.

Robbie’s Elizabeth was made out to be a woman who has given up her womanhood so she could rule England. She is a hard character who stands up to her council and put England above anything, including her own personal desires. The make-up team does a great job at Robbie look ugly when she suffers from smallpox and at times she acted as hysterical Olivia Coleman’s Queen Anne. Robbie stood out in the film.

Jack Lowden was a stand out as Lord Darnley, Mary’s second husband. He is clearly an actor on the rise with films like Dunkirk and A United Kingdom to his name. Lowden was undeniably handsome and played his role perfectly as the man who charms Mary into marriage before revealing his true colours as a drunk. He is clearly someone to watch out for.

Max Richter’s score also deserves a mention. Richter is one of the most underrated film composers working today and Mary Queen of Scots was a great showcase of his talents.

The big issues of Mary Queen of Scots was the historical accuracy and its themes. 16th Century politics was complicated due to the religious and international tensions – Mary Queen of Scots boils the history down to men don’t like being ruled by women. There are token mentions regarding the religious conflict particularly in Scotland, but the film doesn’t go into depth. Mary Queen of Scots trying to do too much in too little time so skips over many events. Some moments are told not shown – like how Mary outmanoeuvred the lords to prevent a second rebellion. This ignores one of the big rules of screenwriting – showing don’t tell. The story would have worked better as a longer film or a miniseries so events could have been looked into more detail.

One of the biggest inaccuracies in the film was showing Mary and Elizabeth meeting – it was a moment that was even shown in the trailers. In reality the two never met and the film’s explanation is that the meeting wasn’t recorded and Elizabeth would deny it. John Guy, whose book the film is based on, theorised that the queens did meet but most other historians dispute this. The scene was meant to be symbolic, like when Winston Churchill met citizens on the tube in Darkest Hour. But Mary Queen of Scots is a shallower film.

Mary Queen of Scots comes around the same time as The Favourite. Both films look at powerful women in periods dominated by men and there are some scene similarities like characters crossing powerful characters early on in their respective films. Yet The Favourite was a more ambitious film in its storytelling, themes, and visuals.

Mary Queen of Scots was a great looking film that had talented actors and behind-the-camera professionals giving their all. But Mary Queen of Scots‘ beauty is only skin deep.