Director Josie Rourke appears to want to tell the historical story of Mary Queen of Scots and her cousin, Queen Elizabeth the first, as she would have liked it to be, shown in fashionable 21st century terms, not how it was in the 16th Century. I read that Josie was determined to have a mixed race cast and I ask the reader, why? The events took place at a time when not too many non white people inhabited England, let alone took their place as royal courtiers. This is clearly nonsense and I found some of the casting a distraction that spoilt an otherwise fairly decent film, other than an event at the close that brings the two women together in an unconvincing tearful meeting. I say unconvincing, not just because these two strong women would have been unlikely to act like two blubbering soap actresses but that there is no evidence that they ever met. Having said that, most of the rest of the film is fairly accurate that I can see, the rivalry between Mary and Elizabeth, a slaughter of Mary's aide, the murder of her husband and Mary's ultimate beheading. These are all things that may be common knowledge to many so I'm not sure if they count as spoilers or not. Soairse Ronan is well cast as Mary although I'm not sure she is pretty enough as Mary has been described in history. The supporting actors on the whole, apart from some miscasting, are on the whole excellent, David Tennant, Ian Hart, Brendan Coyle and Martin Compson are all strong. The real standout for me is a chilling performance by a heavily made up Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth who out acts everyone else in the movie. Josie Rourke had the opportunity to make a really good movie here but has blown it by introducing these modern woke ideas already mentioned, not just by me but by others. I'd suggest she avoids the woke nonsense if she wants her films to make a decent profit and to be remembered in the future.
