Review of Mary Queen of Scots (2018) by Hannibalb — 03 Mar 2019

The cinematography is good and the acting is adequate, but these virtues can't save this piece of garbage. The story is soporific. The characters aren't people, they're representatives of various groups, and so lack any sense of individual personhood.

This is a movie with some very trite messages and no life, no personality, no heart. It's like a Sunday School lesson in the Church of Current Morality without a hint of art except for the stilted dialogue, which is thoroughly unengaging.

I watched the whole thing, but I gave up trying to follow what was happening about halfway through. The tone is imposed by fiat. The pace does nothing to serve the film except get us from beginning to end.

It just plugged along from one pretty tableau to the next without variation or any sense of impending catharsis. Bad script, bad director, bad editing.