Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan) became Queen of Scotland when
just six days old following the death of her father James V Of Scotland. While
Scotland was ruled by Regents until she became an adult, she was effectively
married off at the age of five to the future King of France, who was himself
only four. She subsequently moved to France for thirteen years. The last two as
Queen in France to the then King Francis II, who then died on her.
Her reappearance creates alarm on both sides of the border. As
a devout Catholic, she was regarded with suspicion by her mainly Protestant subjects.
Not even her half-brother James Murray (James McArdle), who is the stand-in
monarch, trusts her. While Protestant cleric John Knox (David Tennant) can't
even abide a woman being in charge.
Then there’s Elizabeth, ravaged by the pox, who is completely
unhappy at having a younger, much better looking queen eyeing up her throne. Yet
Elizabeth sees no other viable option and the two come to an agreement of sorts
in a dramatic meeting between the two that apparently in real life never happened.
Unfortunately hardly anyone else likes this idea and the plots against her mount.
Mary seems naive, she chooses her allies and her husbands badly.
Her second husband, Lord Darnley (Jack Lowden) is a severe disappointment, who
ends up murdered but with whom she had a son. Her third, the Earl of Bothwell
(Martin Compston), is a ‘nice’ chap who is not only the suspected murderer but who
abducts her and also rapes her as a sort of marriage proposal.
None of this goes down well with people and she is forced to
abdicate the throne to her one year old son and go into hiding. This ends with
her imprisoned for eighteen years before finally being beheaded on the orders
of her cousin.
In The Favourite, we saw two women vying for the affections
of Queen Anne while here, we see two women vying against the men and for the
throne of England. It’s interesting and complex stuff but in the end probably
not that great a film.
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