I absolutely love Saoirse Ronan in this film. I cannot stress that enough. Her performance is so captivating in that she perfectly embodies this character. It doesn't feel like I'm watching somebody pretending to be Queen Mary, it feels like I am watching Queen Mary. There is no distinction between the actress and the character. For a character that was supposedly raised in France for the first 19 years of her life, there is no real strong French accent, but her Scottish accent doesn't feel out of place in the film.
The film chronicles the conflict between Mary, the Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, from 1561 and 1603, as they both attempt to unify England and Scotland without giving up power. Not dissimilar to the power struggle in The Favourite, the conflict between Margot Robbie's Queen Elizabeth I and Saoirse Ronan's Queen Mary is made evermore treacherous and complicated by the large number of men in their courts that aim to usurp power for themselves.
While other recent Hollywood depictions prefer to focus primarily on the English side of the matter, Mary, Queen of Scots clearly flips the coin and looks out from the other side of the boundary. An intriguing story from a historical sense, it is interesting to see from the letters that they write to each other how they were constantly trying to outthink the other. Alongside that, seeing how the personalities of each monarch differed in how they ruled and attained power; whether it is "becoming" a man in the eyes of the court, or embracing their femininity and using marriages and heirs to amass more power.
The film has some amazingly vibrant clothing, as well as some great period armour, which draws you into the period. The cinematography is breath-taking with some exhilarating wide shots of the Scottish landscape, contrasting the more claustrophobic and dark court interiors. Visually, it is beautiful, but the pacing of the film does leave a lot to be desired.
Considering the film takes place between 1561 and 1603 (I'll do the maths for you, that is 42 years), you would expect to see some visible signs of ageing from the cast. Alas, that is not so. There are some hints to ageing and sickness in Queen Elizabeth's character, but otherwise, the majority of characters seem lost in a time warp in which their appearance does not change. There are a few occasions where the only real way to know time has passed is to look for Mary's son, James, who goes from birth to several years old over the span of a few scenes.
It is interesting to watch the needs and insecurities of men constantly preventing the whims of these two monarchs from reaching fruition. Even ignoring the pacing issues, they are jamming 42 years of history into a two-hour film. You are best to check it out in the cinema where you have no distractions as Mary, Queen of Scots will require your full attention. If you are a Saoirse Ronan or period film fan, this is definitely the film for you. Otherwise, there may not be enough to keep your attention engaged.