As a lover of historical period pieces, I can accept filmmakers occasionally require some creative license in order to make their movies more watchable throughout... But Mary Queen of Scots is a prime example of people taking this notion way too far & ultimately ruining the suspension of disbelief by tipping it closer to the category of "fiction", obviously refusing to acknowledge historical accuracy has any role to play / importance whatsoever in this particular instance.
When the film goes to such great lengths to depict the indoctrination of firm religious beliefs amongst the vast majority of the public within Scotland & the rest of the UK - which is the main source of conflict fuelling the majority of the story's progression - featuring what is essentially an openly gay, effeminate & flamboyant male character within it seemed totally inconceivable - when he's surrounded by staunchly traditional men & women who are intolerant towards other groups of people for something as trivial as simply interpreting the Bible differently upon reading it...
As a gay man myself, I'm endlessly longing for more healthy LGBT representation in Hollywood productions etc. but only when it's appropriate & turning real life historical figures (Mary's husband included) gay (or speculating on their sexual orientations in order to create a mini soap opera drama) for the sake of it seemed forced & unnecessary - not to mention, utterly illogical & ridiculous, considering the time period the events took place in.
Additionally, expecting to convince the audience such characters would be accepted by even one individual is unreasonable & hard to imagine so having Mary & her maids possess the same liberal attitudes you'd find in 21st century Britain is a "bold move" at that, if not a little distracting - when it's set in 1561.
The script clearly needed a fair amount of extra work before production progressed into the later stages; dialogue is clunky & has all the subtleties of a mallet being swung towards your head & for the reasons I've noted above - not to mention other failings in maintaining historical accuracy which have gained larger amounts of attention - it just wasn't ready for principal photography...
Granted, that doesn't make this a bad movie - it's thankfully partially saved by some excellent performances from great actors who can make even the worst lines sound outstanding (namely, David Tennant is the surprising stand-out - even with his minor role & limited screen time - & Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth) - it just makes it underwhelmingly average instead when it began with such promise.
Review of Mary Queen of Scots
