Mary Queen Of Scots (15)

You can tell it is award season by the films that are currently hitting the multiplexes and art houses up and down our fair land.

Period dramas and biopics are never far away, and it's been quite the last few days on that front.

First we had The Favourite, then Stan & Ollie (more on that to come) and now Mary Queen Of Scots.

And this film would actually make an interesting double feature with Olivia Coleman's awards juggernaut.

Both deal with women in power, both deal with women's bodies and both deal with the inner workings of the political court, albeit some years apart.

Perhaps the biggest difference is that Queen Anne's story was less well known, while Mary's story is ingrained into the fabric of this nation's history.

(If you don't know, Mary was Catholic and had a claim to the English throne while Elizabeth was protestant and those around her were very keen for the Pope to be kept out of the nation's business.)

The other difference is that, while not perfect, Mary Queen Of Scots is much the better film.

Standing proud, front and centre is Saoirse Ronan as the titular monarch.

And she owns this film.

Hers is a performance of passion and power, never once going over the top  with every action and look perfectly weighted and measured. She deserves all the acclaim heading her way.

She's helped by Margot Robbie, who underplays Queen Elizabeth beautifully and so allowing Ronan to fly.

The pair are an utter delight to watch.

However, the same can't be said for the rest of the film.

For a political drama, it lacks tension and at times just descends into random beardy blokes shouting. Which lacks any real impact.

And while the film manages to show the toxic male world both characters had to rise above, the first half of the movie lacks a certain clarity and focus.

Also, given how few people are referred to by name (and we are talking about massive figures from history here), if you suffer from any form of face blindness the number of beards on display will completely confound you.

But, to be fair, for every negative there's a positive.

Yes, it does drag slightly and could do with losing about 15 minutes, but the whole film looks lush and sumptuous and the use of the Scottish scenery is breathtaking.

Yes, certain areas of the plot could do with clearing up — but the scenes in the Scottish castles are so real, so visceral, that you could actually feel the temperature drop.

Yes, there's a tad too much trekking about on horsies — but did we mention just how good Ronan is?

While some liberties may have been taken with the facts, the film itself is a perfectly good period drama with a stand-out central performance.

The period in history has been captured perfectly, and the cinematography is simply stunning.

Just, you know, it could have been a bit shorter. And maybe with name badges....