Mary Queen of Scots

Unlike the beautiful landscapes of Scotland, Mary Queen of Scots offers few peaks outside of its narrative ravines. Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie, being Queens of Scotland and England respectively, give this film their all as they stand against a world of men and politics. The intentions of this film fit timely with the movements of #MeToo and the strength of women around the world, but it loses its purpose in the noise of time-period drama and art-house camera movement, so much that it loses even the audience it is targeting.

The characters are a mess. The men especially. In one scene, if they are loyal to Queen Mary, they are patient and quiet, but as soon as they prove to be distrust-worthy they become loud, obnoxious, brutish, yelling, drunken, belligerent abusers in a matter of seconds. Many allies serving the Queen since the very first scene shift into selfish power-grabbers without question. These events probably follow the espionage of the true history, but the execution minimizes the reality. There are two male characters that were consistent; David Tennant makes a surprise appearance as John Knox, spitting out insults towards the Queen in an attempt to unite the Protestant nation against the Catholic woman leader, and Ian Hart’s manipulating Lord Maitland brings a strong source of conflict as he breaks apart any sense of community in Scotland.

Margot Robbie is almost unrecognizable as she drapes the colors of Queen Elizabeth I—denying any suitor in order to protect her throne—but her character’s purpose is nowhere to be found. When this film is shown in commercial theaters, the trailers will have more screen time than Margot Robbie. Half of her scenes put her in a large room only royalty can afford, and she just stands there, discussing anything but Scotland. There is one scene in particular where she dismisses the messenger before he can even speak about her cousin-Queen Mary.

Saoirse Ronan shows her strength in the few moments the script spares her from girlish giggling or bizarre, artsy camera angles; however, as a whole, she seems powerless—which I think is the point of the film. Men are constantly looking down on her, insulting her, and throwing away the dignity of her sovereignty. She even does this herself; in the beginning of the film, she treats royalty like a sleepover party; her “gentlewomen” protect her from the oppressive men in her court, and they gossip about boys and marriage. It makes her situation of being a Catholic Queen in a nation wanting a strong, Protestant King seem like the Chemistry final she has next week. Her scenes of strength shine with empowering girl-power, many times she suffers through terrible tragedy by staring it down, and it is awesome. Her presence is greater than all other characters combined; sadly, though, this film needed more of what it was advertising.

Overall, the performances of Saoirse Ronan and the brief moments from Margot Robbie and David Tennant are too infrequent to save this film from its noise. Its run time of 2 hours, 4 minutes felt longer than an Extended-Edition Marathon of The Lord of the Rings. For a female-empowering story, its artsy adaptation somehow makes strong women look like a curse to peace itself.

Story Rating: 3/10

Character Rating: 2/10