Well, hello! Today we continue on in our journey through Margot Robbie’s filmography watch through with a movie that received 2 Oscar nominations. No, Margot wasn’t nominated, but her co-star should have been for her role in…Mary Queen of Scots (2018).
Title: Mary Queen of Scots
Director: Josie Rourke
Released: December 7, 2018 (United States)
Runtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Watched via: VOD rental
Mary Queen of Scots (2018) takes a look at the contentious relationship between Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) and Queen Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie).
Elizabeth currently reigns over both England and Scotland. So in her mind, there is no reason for her to give up any power. Why would she give up power when she is already Queen of Scotland?
Well, because if you ask Mary Stuart, based on technicalities she’s the rightful heiress to the throne. A quick bit of research shows that Mary has a point. You see, Elizabeth I was the second child of Henry VIII, and cousin of Mary Stuart. Mary Stuart’s grandmother, Mary Tudor, was Henry VIII’s older sister, thus making Mary Stuart heir to the English throne.
But as is the case far too often throughout history, when religion is involved, things fall apart quickly.
You see, Mary is a devout Roman Catholic whereas the Church of England is Protestant. Mary Stuart can’t exactly become Queen, who acts as the head of the Church of England, while being a Roman Catholic.
Mary isn’t about to take this lying down either. She strategically asserts herself in ways that continuously undermine and threaten Elizabeth I and her sovereignty.
With things continuously escalating between the two, it is only a matter of time before someone winds up losing their head over things…
Prior to my viewing, I honestly hadn’t heard much about Mary Queen of Scots (2018). Most of what I had heard was about it not being completely historically accurate and that it sort of takes awhile to get going.
While it is based on the biography Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart by John Guy, the film itself is a work of historical fiction. That said, I’m willing to cut Beau Willimon and Josie Rourke some slack with their adaptation.
As for the pacing, yes, it is pretty rough, especially starting out. However, once we have defined who Mary and Elizabeth I are and what each feel is rightfully theirs, things settle in nicely. Unfortunately though, it does take a hot minute for us to get to that point.
Even though Margot Robbie is the co-lead, her screen time is rather limited. That’s fine though, because Saoirse Ronan is absolutely phenomenal as Mary. As I mentioned in the introduction, Mary Queen of Scots (2018) received 2 Oscar nominations, one for Makeup & Hairstyling and the other for Costume Design. It lost Makeup & Hairstyling to Vice and Costume Design to Black Panther. If you ask me, there should have been a third nomination and it should have been Ronan for Best Actress.
Would I say to drop everything and go rent this movie? Probably not.
Though if you come across Mary Queen of Scots (2018) on a streaming service you already subscribe to, it is definitely worth at least one viewing.
So, if you have seen Mary Queen of Scots (2018), what did you think of it?
Tell me all about it in the comments below or by reaching out over on Bluesky!
As always, you can follow me over on Letterboxd to see everything else that I’ve been watching lately.