Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)

This was actually a very good period piece, though it was somewhat difficult to keep tract of the characters, as they changed allegiances quicker than underwear.
Mary (Saoirse Ronan) has just lost her first husband (a widow at just eighteen) and has returned to her homeland, Scotland, though she left for France when she was a mere toddler. But she's been Queen since she was nine months old.
However, she is Catholic, which the Protestant country doesn't appreciate. But Mary is kind and doesn't care about religion. She mostly cares about being named successor to the throne of England, ruled by her cousin, Elizabeth (Margot Robbie) who shows little interest in sex or children. Mary is different and Elizabeth knows this and tries to manipulate her next marriage, but Mary still manages to defy them all and marries for love, or so she thinks, imagine the shock on her wedding night when her newly minted husband, Lord Henry Darnley (Jack Lowden) sleeps with her friend and confidante, David Rizzio (Ismael Cruz Cordova) instead. But she forces Henry to impregnate her and its as though she knows her son (when he's finally born) will be heir to both thrones.
But before that, Henry tries to get the throne away from her and is murdered but then Mary is forced to marry again. Unfortunately for her, this only turns the country more against her and she must leave, for her own well-being, leaving toddler James behind, which pretty much breaks her heart. Which means she finally meets Elizabeth and while the two have their differences, Elizabeth does 'protect' her until she orders her death. It isn't until Elizabeth's death that the two countries are united.
Elizabeth was smarter than Mary in many ways. She knew by marrying someone, they would only try to take her throne and that's exactly what happened to Mary. And there is also plenty of betrayal among the men. Mary is probably the only true, kind, loyal person in the entire film.
The film, as a whole, is solid, though I would have liked some subtitles as to the roles of each character as there are so many of them. But they acting is superb and everything feels authentic, down the speech and word choices. If you're in the mood for a good period piece, this one certainly fits the bill. Grade: A-
Side Notes:
-Joe Alwyn is in basically in every movie in 2018 (Boy Erased, Operation Finale and The Favourite are the others.)
-The throne is sort of like the Mafia, if you piss them off, they can and will kill you.
-Mary's first marriage was never consummated, though apparently, they did try. Then again, they were both teenagers at the time.
-Pay attention to a long-bearded David Tennett as the leader of Scotland's Protestant church and Brendan Coyle as Henry's father, who is filled with machinations of his own.