Mary Queen of Scots

A beautifully, well crafted, but historically inaccurate drama about the tense relationship between Queen Elizabeth I of England (Margo Robbie, I, Tonya) and Mary Stewart, Queen of Scotland (Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird, The Lovely Bones). Both women vie for the right to rule both England and Scotland. Both women have a valid right, but both are motivated by different forces and desires. A list of their attributes clearly shows their differences and issues.

Plot Summary:

Mary Queen of Scots was nominated for an Oscar in Costume Design and Makeup & Hairstyling so the movie had a genuine 1500’s look.  The Scottish and English accents are slight so you can easily understand the conversations.  However, there are so many “politically correct” situations about gender identity, orientation, alcoholism, mental health, and integration that it becomes unreal for the 1500’s.  It is almost eye-rolling if you are the cynical type.

The movie seems designed around Saoirse Ronan’s face shots.  Set up perfect lighting, face shot, pause camera while Ms. Ronin is experiencing a variety of emotions.

The last 30 minutes becomes more intriguing (although it never happened in the history books) and contains my favorite scene when Mary & Elizabeth meet in a curtain filled room.

The conclusion happens quickly with not enough time to explore the final plotting, and the movie was still over 2 hours. This movie tries to encompass too much. Many of the situations in this movie could be a separate movie instead of just a quick scene.  It is an interesting story but would have been more real in a more modern time.