Mary Queen of Scots

It's a shame that everything collapses when the queens finally meet in a sequence that has all the heft of a gauzy Chanel fragrance spot.

In spite of being handcuffed by uninspired storytelling, [Ronan and Robbie] excel in communicating strength, vulnerability and isolation as two monarchs ruling in a man's world.

Few movies make a better case for reexamining the patriarchal historical truths we've come to accept than the impassioned, intricate Mary Queen of Scots.

The two-hour-long film does require patience. But there is enough juice here to keep you hooked.

Beau Willimon's stiflingly expository screenplay... moonlights as the undergraduate lecture David Starkey would give after a partial lobotomy.

Director Josie Rourke makes a very assured move from the theatre to the cinema screen in her feature debut, a full-blooded tale of personal and political rivalries told with wit, flair and passion.

Dramatic license is so much a given that discussions of authenticity are as damned as they are damning.

“Mary Queen of Scots” could've at least been an average, or even above average effort to explore a history that is so often misconstrued. Instead, both women are done a disservice in a more modern way...

Willimon and Rourke focus on issues of gender and sexuality in fascinating ways, although it is sometimes jarring to see Mary as a paragon of contemporary tolerance.

This is Ronan’s film and her performance is stellar. Far from being merely a villain or a rebel, her Mary is an independent woman full of life whose belief system is more aligned to women of today.