Mary Queen of Scots - Movie Review - Insightful or uninteresting?

This film is a 15, was released on January 18th 2019, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS... but this is a film based on actual happenings so there's not really anything to be spoiled. 

Introduction 

Despite being in the middle of my GCSEs which are quickly approaching, I am still going to the cinema frequently. I don't want to stop doing something that I love just because I'd like to succeed in school. But, there are times when a cinema trip can actually be beneficial for your education. One of the many joys of a history GCSE is the wide expanse of stuff you have to know and be familiar with. In my course, there is a whole component dedicated to a specific queen, Elizabeth I, whom we just started learning about after Christmas. So is it merely coincidence that a film which could cover certain details of this queen is coming out at this time?

Thoughts Going In 

I didn't go into Mary Queen of Scots because it's a potential awards contender or because I was interested by the subject matter. I went in because I thought it'd be good to see this film as I am learning about some of the details in it in school at the moment. That said, I do still look for a good film whenever I watch them, so I was keen to see if this would be a good film in general, which was kind of dependant on me anyway because it received quite mixed reviews. 

The Story 

The film follows Mary Stuart as she rises in power, ruling alongside her cousin Elizabeth and face many struggles because of her Catholic nature and other hardships. 

What I Liked 

The very best thing about this film, and I think most people will agree with me on this, are the performances. Saorise Ronan and Margot Robbie as Mary and Elizabeth, respectively, were so terrific. The first thing is that they naturally sink into their roles so well. Like Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury, you don't think you're watching actors portray these people, it feels as if you're watching the people themselves. I'd also like to comment on their accents because neither of them are British nor Scottish and they seamlessly pull off convincing voices despite having thick Irish and Australian accents in reality. The other thing is that even when a scene isn't interesting or if it's dull, these two are still so watchable that what they're saying or doing doesn't matter, it's about how they say or do things, which they do very finely. So, solid, convincing and compelling leads. 

The other great thing about this film were certain technical aspects. Firstly, the cinematography and direction. This film looks beautiful and successfully captures the Tudor / Stuart era it is set in wonderfully. There were times when it felt a bit like a high budget, BBC 1, Sunday night drama, but in this case the good outweighs the bad. The other thing was the costumes and make up was all very well done and helps to further emphasise the time period. So, it's not just the two leads that make this film watchable, it's also great to look at. 

What I Didn't Like 

This might sound like an odd or invalid criticism when talking about a film in which the main character is Mary Stuart, but I thought she was a bit dull compared to Elizabeth. There have been many other cinematic versions of Elizabeth's story, and it shows. What she went through was much more interesting than that of Mary. Don't get me wrong, Mary's life is still one stuffed with elements that could make for a brilliant film, but when you have Elizabeth and her more intriguing life story playing out simultaneously, I couldn't help but feel like I wanted to see more of the latter.

I don't quite think the film told its story in the best possible way. This may just be because I have quite a short attention span and struggle to stay engaged in a film unless there's an explosion every 10 minutes, but I felt as if the film didn't do a great job of introducing characters, explaining who they are / their backstory, and various other elements. As a result, it ended up with the two queens being easily distinguishable, but everyone else mostly being bearded men talking medieval talk and such. So, I had a bit of trouble following along.  

Also, not a huge issue for me but something others may get annoyed about, I don't think the film is entirely accurate to history. There's one scene in particular towards the end which I think others may have touched upon, but I won't bother to discuss as I don't really have anything to add to the discussion. But if you are a bit of a pedant and want everything to match what actually happened, this film may irritate you slightly. 

Conclusion 

While it does suffer from a more interesting story being sidelined, some weak storytelling, and definitely not being the best recent film with 'Mary' in the title, Mary Queen of Scots is still a very admirable effort at telling a story about a very comlex part of England and Scotland's history through some great filmmaking aspects like cinematography, direction and overall design. And its best success is two thoroughly engaging portrayals of these characters, both of which I think are worth seeing the film for alone. For any other GCSE history students studying Elizabeth, this is still worth a watch but don't go in expecting it to be super helpful, just think you'll come out with enough necessary insight into these significant people, which I did. 

I'm going to give Mary Queen of Scots a 6/10