An emotional portrayal rather than an historically faithful account of Mary's relationship with Elizabeth of England. Although claiming that this film was based on John Guy's book MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS: THE TRUE LIFE OF MARY STUART (a remarkable, groundbreaking historical work, which, driven by curiosity by the movie, I've just finished reading) there is very little evidence the screenwriter finished reading it. Both the book and film present Mary as the beautiful, courtly, intellectual and political equal of Elizabeth I, but, that must have been when the screenwriter stopped reading the book for he departs from the historical record and lapses into a fantasy, portraying Elizabeth as weak and distant from her own political processes, gives us with no credible explanation for why Elizabeth made the decisions she did, which begs the question no historian would pose, "If Mary was a true and worthy queen whereas Elizabeth was weak and an emotional mess, how did Mary end up on the executioner's block and Elizabeth manage to successfully hold her throne for 44 years?" The screenwriter muddles up any political, religious or ideological (or even personal) logic for the climate of the day which inevitably set the course for Mary's life path. There is no clarity given as to whether one was either Protestant or Roman would be such an insurmountable issue, partly because John Knox was so poorly written (despite having hidden the very talented and capable David Tennant behind all the hair). Disappointing story telling. Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie give emotionally deep performances, as expected. This was a waste of good actors. I rate this film a 4 (poor) out of 10. I know I may be expressing a minority opinion, because, by and large, the people I spoke to as we exited the theatre, seemed to have liked the movie, but more troubling, they accepted this as an historically accurate portrayal while confessing to each other that they never knew of Mary, Queen of Scotts. [Historical? BioPic]. By the way, a seminole point of John Guy's book is that Mary and Elizabeth NEVER MET!
Nice historical movie, a bit slow sometimes, but totally enjoyable. Saoirse Ronan made a great work with her performance; Margot Robbie has been wonderful as always.
Black people playing the role of british lords and asian actresses as court ladies are the big mistake of the movie. The politically correct counts more than historical facts.
An honorable mention goes to the customs, which got the nomination for Oscar 2019.
what a load of bullshit,since when did have Elizabeth have a black ambassodor,and also since when was dudley gay?Liberal nonsense for all the millenials that know nothing about history!
Surprisingly, as much as the ending appears at the beginning of the film, it becomes rather unexpected.
I love movies like that and the power struggle was memorable as well as the false oaths of those who said they were loyal!!
The actors are good, but the gaps in the narrative undermine their hard work. It's not a bad film, but it could have been so much more.
Not quite sure where to put this. If you span a period of 25 years in a two hour movie there are supposed to be gaps in the story. But it is tough to put events into a timeframe if you don't know much about the history.
I like period dramas and I am a huge fan of Saoirse who played well. As did Margot. They both carry the movie a lot. The oscar nominations are also well earned. But that's just it. It looks pretty but it's lacking in storytelling. The material would have been better for a mini series. I am not dissapointed nor do I regret watching this. I think a "7" is an honest rating. It takes into consideration the effort made to produce this movie.
I just re-watched this for the second time. I can't describe how much I enjoyed it the second time, even more so than the first time.
Amazing score by Max Richter. Love the track "The Shores Of Scotland"
I watched it back to back part of
The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Elizabeth (1998)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Mary Queen of Scots (2018)
I was kind of worried to see this again. It shows Queen Elizabeth like a mustache twirling villain and I didn't want to erase Cate Blanchett's performance watching these back to back. But as I said I really enjoyed it despite Margot Robbie's performance. I just consider it like a separate entity and you will enjoy Mary Stuart's story. I'm not even worried if they are historically accurate, I just enjoy them as stories exploring the human condition. (I was actually surprised how close this was to reality, I thought it was mostly fiction at first)
I will never forget the ending, Saoirse Ronan's composure and the music.
eu adorei a performance da Margot Robbie e da Saoirse Ronan, perfeitas
I finally got to see this movie as I unfortunately missed it in cinemas. I must say that I did like it a lot. There were a lot of powerful scenes thanks to the brilliant acting by Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie. The film is not 100 percent true to history but that's not necessarily a bad thing as most of us know what was historically passed on. So a few additions here and there do not hurt in my opinion. Overall the movie is good, has a powerful soundtrack, a beautiful cinematography and thanks to the two lead actresses the viewer is met with awesome performances.
Great leading ladies for a good, feminist and a little too long historical drama.
It's a high quality production, and it is a serious one. There aren't a lot of laughs. Though I do appreciate what they've done, I was kinda bored for most of it. Things get a lot more interesting / exciting about two-thirds of the way through.
I suppose people who are into historical dramas or have an interest in this period in history might enjoy it a lot more than I did.
Also, based on the trailer, I expected the film to be mostly focussed on the two Queens and their relationship. And though that is quite an important aspect to the film, there's a lot of other stuff that happens in the film. In fact, the trailer seems to mostly be made up of clips from the final 10 minutes of the film.
I wasn't quite c**t-struck even with the talent involved.
It's too dry for my taste, but not to say there isn't redeemable qualities. The sets, costumes, and performances were all solid, especially with it being a period piece drama. And an entertaining performance from David Tennant, in spite of the slim screen time.
However, the sluggish pace ruins any investment I could have with the story and the movie unfortunately follows the period piece drama formula. But seriously, releasing this movie at the same time as 'The Favourite' aka Walk Hard of period dramas, didn't really help.
I think being broke is better than being ''woke''.
I was expecting more from this movie. The acting was very good but the story was boring, not as exciting as one would hope. Especially because it was too long. Great photography though.
Strong players and an excellent wardrobe do not prevent this clutter of plotlines and characters to be an entertaining watch. It jumps from point to point without a clear line of where it wants to go exactly and spends time delving into situations that would have been better suited to flesh out the actual rivalry between Mary and Elizabeth.
At the end, you're scratching your head wondering what exactly happened and what part each and every character actually played in the eventual downfal of the Queen of Scots. A pity, since the story must have been part to the concept of ASOIAF, yet it is sadly mistreated in this incarnation.
queen has no sisters, only her kingdom
For the love of god, please respect historical sources before making you movie. Please.
Why is it so difficult to give Elizabeth brown eyes? :-(
As a Brit, I absolutely loathe period pieces, historical drama, and royal intrigue, so naturally I loved The Favourite because it was modern af with characters as up to date af in a struggle as contemporary af presented in a style as cutting edge af. Mary Queen of Scots, on the other hand, is a lesson from a history book with pretty pictures and just as exciting.
We have a scourge upon our land. Tis a woman with a crown.
-John Knox
Great production design, costumes, sets, ect... but overall a bit bland. I think Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie elevate a movie that would be quite forgettable without them.
Not bad but not great. Saoirse and Margot are both great but everything else is kinda dull. This could of used some more action and 20 minutes cut out.
Review by Sisi2BlockedParent2019-01-03T08:50:33Z
I am disappointed with this movie. I had such high expectations. There were many gaps in portraying the story. I am very familiar with the British history so I was able to fill in the gaps. But I was with my teenage daughter and she got lost in the story. First of all, there was no explanation as to why the religion mattered. Second, many stories were rushed, no detail provided while some other stories/parts dragged. And as I watched the scene when Elizabeth and Mary met for the first time I realized that this whole movie is about women empowerment. The way the story was told, the focus was on the strength and power of the women (mostly Mary). I don't like how Elizabeth was portrayed as a weak and insecure woman. Actually, the truth was quite the opposite - she was strong and smart woman. She knew what she wanted. She never married because she knew that she would lose power the moment she tied the knot. This is what ultimately brought Mary's demise.
If the focus of the movie was telling the story rather than making a point, the result would have been much better movie. Right now the movie lacks a seamless story telling. What a waste of good actors. And btw, I think they overdid it with Elizabeth's make up.