''Mary Queen of Scots'' is a 2018 historical drama film directed by

Josie Rourke Josie Rourke (born 3 September 1976) is an English theatre and film director. She is a Vice-President of the London Library and was the artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse theatre from 2012 to 2019. In 2018, she made her feature film debut ...

(in her feature directorial debut) and with a screenplay by Beau Willimon based on John Guy's 2004 biography ''Queen of Scots: The True Life of Mary Stuart''. The film stars

Saoirse Ronan Saoirse Una Ronan ( , ; born 12 April 1994) is an American-born Irish actress. Primarily known for her work in period dramas since adolescence, she has received various accolades, including a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations fo ...

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legitimate child of James V of S ...

, and

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie (; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received several accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Glob ...

as her cousin

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Jack Lowden Jack Andrew Lowden (born 2 June 1990) is a Scottish actor. Following a four-year stage career, his first major international onscreen success was in the 2016 BBC miniseries '' War & Peace'', which led to starring roles in feature films. Lowden s ...

Joe Alwyn Joseph Matthew Alwyn (born 21 February 1991) is an English actor. He made his feature film debut as the titular character in Ang Lee's 2016 war drama, '' Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk,'' and has since played supporting roles in films such as ...

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

, and

Guy Pearce Guy Edward Pearce (born 5 October 1967) is an Australian actor. Born in Ely, Cambridgeshire in England, and raised in Geelong, Victoria in Australia, he started his career portraying Mike Young in the Australian television series ''Neighbours ...

also star in supporting roles. ''Mary Queen of Scots'' had its world premiere on closing night of

AFI Fest The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

on 15 November 2018, was released in the United States on 7 December 2018, and in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2019. The film received mixed reviews, with praise for the performances (particularly Ronan and Robbie) and costumes, but was criticised for the screenplay and several historical inaccuracies. The film received three nominations at the

72nd British Academy Film Awards The 72nd British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTAs, were held on 10 February 2019 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, honouring the best national and foreign films of 2018 in film, 2018. Presented by the British Academy of F ...

, and two nominations, for Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling, at the 91st Academy Awards. For her performance, Robbie earned nominations for a SAG Award and

BAFTA Award The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...

for Best Supporting Actress.

Plot

In 1561, nineteen-year-old Mary Stuart, the

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

queen of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, returns to her home country from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

following the death of her husband, Francis II of France, to take up her throne, where she is received by her half brother, the Earl of Moray. In neighbouring

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, Mary's twenty-eight-year-old cousin

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist Ships * HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships * ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...

is the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

queen of England – unmarried, childless, and threatened by Mary's potential claim to her throne. Mary dismisses the cleric John Knox from her court. A Protestant and leader of the

Scottish Reformation The Scottish Reformation was the process by which Scotland broke with the Papacy and developed a predominantly Calvinist national Kirk (church), which was strongly Presbyterian in its outlook. It was part of the wider European Protestant Refor ...

, Knox views Mary as a danger to the kingdom's Protestant supremacy. Seeking to weaken her cousin's threat to her sovereignty, Elizabeth arranges for Mary, whom many English Catholics regard as their rightful queen, to be married to an Englishman. She chooses Robert Dudley, whom she secretly loves; although he and Mary are unwilling, news of Elizabeth's

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

convinces Mary to accept, provided she is named Elizabeth's heir. Reluctant to let go of Dudley, Elizabeth sends

Lord Darnley Lord Darnley is a noble title associated with a Scottish Lordship of Parliament, first created in 1356 for the family of Stewart of Darnley and tracing a descent to the Dukedom of Richmond in England. The title's name refers to Darnley in Sco ...

to Scotland with the pretence of living under their religious freedom. Despite sensing the ulterior motive, Mary grows fond of Darnley and eventually accepts his proposal. Mary's impending marriage causes a constitutional crisis within both realms: Elizabeth is advised to oppose the marriage for fear that Darnley, an English noble, will elevate Mary's claim to the crown; Mary's council is suspicious of Darnley, fearing an English takeover. Both kingdoms demand his return to England but Mary refuses, leading Moray to mount a rebellion against her. Mary marries Darnley, only to discover him in bed with her friend and private secretary,

David Rizzio David Rizzio ( ; it, Davide Rizzio ; – 9 March 1566) or Riccio ( , ) was an Italian courtier, born in Pancalieri close to Turin, a descendant of an ancient and noble family still living in Piedmont, the Riccio Counts di San Paolo e Solbrito ...

. Mary quashes the rebel forces but spares Rizzio and Moray, and demands that Darnley give her a child. When a child is conceived, Mary declares the child is "heir to Scotland and England" – offending the English. Moray colludes with Darnley's father

Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox (21 September 1516 – 4 September 1571) was a leader of the Catholic nobility in Scotland. He was the paternal grandfather of King James VI of Scotland and I of England. He owned Temple Newsam in Yorkshire, ...

, to undermine Mary. They spread rumours that her child was illegitimately fathered by Rizzio, driving John Knox to vehemently denounce Mary as an adulteress. Fearing these accusations and the possible discovery of his homosexuality, Darnley is coerced by the underminers to join them in murdering Rizzio, and reluctantly delivers the final blow. Discovering the plot of weakening her rule and giving Darnley more power, Mary convinces Darnley to side with her and escape with her instead, which turns out to be a ploy for her army to detain him. Mary agrees to pardon the conspirators if presented with evidence that Darnley took part. She ultimately forgives Moray, and asks Elizabeth to be her child's godmother. They agree the child is heir presumptive, despite the English court's hostility. Mary banishes Darnley but refuses to divorce him, despite the appeals of her council, which approaches her adviser and protector, the Earl of Bothwell, to have him killed. After Darnley's murder, Mary is forced to flee without her child. Bothwell advises that her council has decided she must marry a Scotsman immediately—and that Scotsman should be Bothwell himself. Mary resists, suspecting he was involved in Darnley's murder, but after he threatens her and subsequently rapes her, she consents. This induces Knox to preach to the Scots that Mary is a "harlot" who had her husband killed, leading Moray and her court to demand her abdication. Despite her objections, Mary eventually abdicates and flees to England. Elizabeth arranges a clandestine meeting, where Mary asks for help to take back her throne. Unable to go to war on behalf of a Catholic, Elizabeth instead promises a safe exile in England as long as Mary does not aid her enemies. Mary responds that if she does, it will only be because Elizabeth forced her to do so, and threatens that should Elizabeth murder her, she should remember that she "murdered her own sister and queen". Placing Mary under house arrest, Elizabeth receives compelling evidence that Mary conspired with her enemies to have her assassinated, and orders Mary's execution. Elizabeth laments that even if the evidence is untrue, she has to order her execution, for she has given her whole self to the throne, but fondly remembers Mary for her bravery and beauty. As Mary walks to the

scaffold Scaffolding, also called scaffold or staging, is a temporary structure used to support a work crew and materials to aid in the construction, maintenance and repair of buildings, bridges and all other man-made structures. Scaffolds are widely used ...

, a remorseful Elizabeth cries for Mary, who reveals a bright red dress, implying herself to be a martyr. In her final thoughts, Mary wishes her son James well and hopes for peace upon his reign. A post-script notes that upon Elizabeth's death in 1603, James became the first monarch to rule both Scotland and England.

Cast

Mary Queen of Scots premiere (32891216208)

, and Elizabeth's cousin *

, Mary's cousin and the Queen of England *

as Henry Darnley, Mary's second husband *

as Robert Dudley, Elizabeth's counselor and lover *

as John Knox, founder of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

as William Cecil, advisor to Elizabeth * Gemma Chan as Bess of Hardwick, a friend and confidante of Elizabeth and keeper of Mary *

Martin Compston Martin Compston (born 8 May 1984) is a Scottish actor and former professional footballer. He played Anti-Corruption Unit Detective Inspector Steve Arnott in the BBC drama ''Line of Duty'', Liam in Ken Loach's '' Sweet Sixteen'', Paul Ferris in ...

as Lord Bothwell, Mary's third husband * Ismael Cruz Córdova as

, Mary's close friend and confidant * Brendan Coyle as

Earl of Lennox The Earl or Mormaer of Lennox was the ruler of the region of the Lennox in western Scotland. It was first created in the 12th century for David of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon and later held by the Stewart dynasty. Ancient earls The first ear ...

, father of Lord Darnley *

Ian Hart Ian Davies (born 8 October 1964), better known by his stage name Ian Hart, is an English actor. His most notable roles are Rabbit in the Channel Four drama miniseries '' One Summer'' (1983), Joe O'Reilly in the biopic ''Michael Collins'' (1996 ...

as Lord Maitland, Secretary of State of Scotland *

Adrian Lester Adrian Anthony Lester (born Anthony Harvey; 14 August 1968) is a British actor, director and writer. He is the recipient of a Laurence Olivier Award, an Evening Standard Theatre Award and a Critics' Circle Theatre Award for his work on the ...

as Lord Randolph, Elizabeth's ambassador to Scotland *

James McArdle James John McArdle (born 3 April 1989) is a Scottish actor from Glasgow. He won the Ian Charleson Award for his role as Mikhail Platonov in '' Platonov'' and was nominated for an Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for p ...

as James, Earl of Moray, Regent of Scotland In addition, Eileen O’Higgins, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Izuka Hoyle and

Liah O'Prey Liah O'Prey (born 15 December 1999) is a Spanish-born Irish-French actress. She began her career as a child actress and speaks English, French, Spanish and Catalan. Early life O'Prey was born in Barcelona to an Irish father and a Corsican mother ...

are seen throughout the film as Mary's personal attendants, historically known as "The Four Marys",

Mary Beaton Mary Beaton (1543–1598) was a Scottish noblewoman and an attendant of Mary, Queen of Scots. She and three other ladies-in-waiting ( Mary Livingston, Mary Fleming and Mary Seton) were collectively known as "The Four Marys". Family Mary wa ...

Mary Fleming Mary Fleming () (1542–fl. 1581) was a Scottish noblewoman and childhood companion and cousin of Mary, Queen of Scots. She and three other ladies-in-waiting (Mary Livingston, Mary Beaton and Mary Seton) were collectively known as "The Four Ma ...

, Mary Seton and

Mary Livingston Mary Livingston (c. 1541–1582) was a Scottish noblewoman and childhood companion of Mary, Queen of Scots, one of the famous "Four Marys". Life Mary Livingston was born around 1541, the daughter of Alexander Livingston, 5th Lord Livingston (c. ...

, respectively. Alex Beckett, who appears as Sir Walter Mildmay, English Chancellor of the Exchequer, died at age 35, seven months before the film's release; the film is dedicated to his memory. The director, Josie Rourke, followed the principle of colour-blind casting. The movie portrays the English ambassador to the Scottish Court, Lord Thomas Randolph, as a black man, which he was not. Gemma Chan's character is Elizabeth Hardwick, who in real life was white. Rourke told the ''L.A. Times'': "I was really clear, I would not direct an all-white period drama."

Production

The film was originally planned to be a

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

vehicle, scheduled to begin shooting in mid-2007 on a $25–30 million budget. After Johansson dropped out, the film languished in development hell for several years. On 9 August 2012, it was announced that

would play the title role of Mary Stuart. It took another five years, until 21 April 2017, until it was announced that

was cast to play

, and that the film was scheduled to commence principal photography in August 2017. The film based on John Guy's biography ''My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots'' would be produced by

Working Title A working title, which may be abbreviated and styled in trade publications after a putative title as (wt), also called a production title or a tentative title, is the temporary title of a product or project used during its development, usually ...

Tim Bevan Timothy John Bevan, (born 20 December 1957) is a New Zealand-British film producer, the co-chairman (with Eric Fellner) of the production company Working Title Films. Bevan and Fellner are the most successful British producers of their era ...

Eric Fellner Eric Fellner, (born 10 October 1959) is a British film producer. He is the co-chairman (along with Tim Bevan) of the production company Working Title Films. Early life and education Fellner was born to a Jewish family in England. From 1972 t ...

, and Debra Hayward, and HBI Production's James Biggam.

was announced to direct the film from an adapted screenplay by Beau Willimon. On 13 June 2017,

was announced to play

, while

was announced to play Robert Dudley. On 22 June 2017, it was reported that

was cast in the film to play James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Stuart. On 23 June 2017, German-Romanian actress Maria-Victoria Dragus had also joined the cast to play Scottish noblewoman and childhood friend of Stuart,

, marking her English-language debut in film, having a minor role previously in Australian teen drama '' Dance Academy''. On 17 August 2017, Brendan Coyle,

, and

joined the cast, followed by Gemma Chan the next day. On 22 August, Ismael Cruz Córdova was cast to play

, Mary's close friend and confidant. Focus Features handled the domestic rights while

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

handled the international distribution. The crew on the film included

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

winners costume designer Alexandra Byrne, hair and make-up designer Jenny Shircore and editor Chris Dickens; Emmy Award-winning production designer James Merifield; and

-winning cinematographer John Mathieson.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

began on 17 August 2017, in various locations around the United Kingdom, including Scotland.

Release

It had its world premiere at the closing night gala of

on 15 November 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. The film was released in the United States on 7 December 2018, and in the United Kingdom on 18 January 2019.

Historical accuracy

Historians have heavily criticised the inaccuracies of the story. Mary and Elizabeth's letters to each other are believed to have been their only sources of communication, and they are not known to have met. There have been suggestions that Mary would not have had a

Scottish accent Scottish English ( gd, Beurla Albannach) is the set of varieties of the English language spoken in Scotland. The transregional, standardised variety is called Scottish Standard English or Standard Scottish English (SSE). Scottish Standard ...

. The five-year-old Mary was sent to

, where she grew up in the French Court. Estelle Paranque, an expert on Queen Elizabeth I, told ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'': "It shows a friendship at first, but there was not a friendship, Elizabeth tried to be kind to her at first but Mary never saw Elizabeth as an equal. She saw her as a rival from the start."

Soundtrack

Reception

Box office

''Mary Queen of Scots'' grossed $16.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $29.9 million in other countries, for a total worldwide gross of $46.4 million.

Critical response

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "''Mary Queen of Scots'' delivers uneven period political thrills while offering a brilliant showcase for the talents of its well-matched leads." On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a weighted average score of 60 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by

PostTrak PostTrak is a U.S.-based service that surveys film audiences for film studios. History The service conducts surveys in the top 20 markets in the U.S. and Canada with the use of polling cards and electronic kiosks. A PostTrak report for a film ...

gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, with 38% saying they would definitely recommend it. Reviewers criticised the film's

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...

, its plotting and its sex scenes. Emily Yoshida of ''New York'' magazine's ''Vulture'' site called it "a kind of nothing of a film. It's neither a rigorous history lesson nor a particularly interesting work of drama and character"; Shane Watson of '' The Telegraph'' called it "history porn for the Instagram generation"; while A.O. Scott of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said that "students of Scottish history may be surprised to learn that the fate of the nation was partly decided by an act of

cunnilingus Cunnilingus is an oral sex act performed by a person on the vulva or vagina of another person. The clitoris is the most sexually sensitive part of the human female genitalia, and its stimulation may result in a woman becoming sexually aroused ...

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 2018 directorial debut films 2018 biographical drama films 2010s historical drama films American biographical drama films American historical drama films British biographical drama films British historical drama films Films about cousins Films about Elizabeth I Films about Mary, Queen of Scots Films based on biographies Films produced by Eric Fellner Films produced by Tim Bevan Films scored by Max Richter Films set in the 1560s Films shot in Edinburgh Films shot in Gloucestershire Focus Features films Universal Pictures films Working Title Films films Biographical films about British royalty 2010s English-language films 2010s American films 2010s British films