by Nick Taylor
Hello you disgusting Royalists. As the final season of The Crown makes its way onto Netflix at a dignified pace, I can guess what some of you will be thinking as you watch it. “God, I hate having to look between the TV for highly pedigreed British drama and my phone for high-quality artworks of men having sex. Who will finally, FINALLY give me both options at the same time!?!?”
Worry not, dear reader, for a happy medium has slotted itself between these two pillars of your psychologically wrought Eiffel Tower. Mary & George, a miniseries based on the true story of Countess Mary Villiers molding her son George to suck and fuck his way to the graces of King James I of England, comes to Starz sometime in 2024. Created by playwright D.C. Moore and directed by Oliver Hermanus, the first trailer dropped earlier today, and we here at The Film Experience decided to give it the proper once-over it clearly deserves...
YES
- Julianne Moore is always welcome in! this! house! It looks like she’s finally old enough to start playing Machiavellian mothers in sexy period dramas with nasty comedic streaks, and we hope seeing her scheme is just as much of a treat as seeing her lose herself. One must always jump at the opportunities to wear such extravagant fashions and brandish an outlandish accent from which to spit our cunty zingers, so keep having fun, queen.
- That pointy collar Mary’s wearing! I will have to take Cláudio’s word for it about the rarity of seeing early 17th century fashions in major media on the British royals, but I thought the clothing we saw was quite eye-catching.
- On the other hand, how fun it is to see these men not wearing clothing!
- “So cockstruck, it’s like a curse” - Relatable.
- I do love a queered reinterpretation of history, and salacious imagery of men being intimate. I’m just as psyched for non-fiction texts (and adaptations of them) that editorialize on the queers of the past. We’ve always been here! Running countries, using our power and station for illicit pleasures. First King James, next George Santos.
- Between his spirited commitment to the bit in Bottoms and his smoldering Prince in Red, White, and Royal Blue, Nicholas Galitzine’s really popping off, huh? Hopefully Mary & George will keep that star shining into next year, especially if it means he’s willing to keep . . . . revealing himself so vividly onscreen.
- Tony Curran! So handsome, so haunted, so affecting in his episode of Doctor Who as Van Gogh. Glad to see him again
NO
- Maybe not an actual “No!” but is it weird to anyone else that D.C. Moore and Oliver Hermanus aren’t name-dropped in the trailer? Is this business as usual for Starz?
- Hell, where’s any other member of the cast? Trine Dyrholm, Laurie Davidson, Niamh Algar, Nicola Walker, Simon Russell Beale - they’re not “names” like Julianne Moore is, but the absence of any other names or characters still makes it feel just a bit emptier.
- Boy do the burnished candlelit interiors and white, chalky sunlight seem like Mary & George is really trying to evoke/rip-off The Favourite’s cinematography. At least Hermanus isn’t just repeating the visual schemas of his own movies, but come on! What style is this trailer bringing to the table beyond the textures of another film? Have your own identity!
MAYBE SO
- I liked but decidedly have not loved Hermanus’s previous two features - the South African homoerotic white boy soldier drama Moffie and Bill Nighy’s recent Oscar play Living - which gives me pause on being too excited for this. One hopes for the best, but he’s not a name that automatically excites me.
For all the bullets in the “yes” corner, I find myself at an optimistic but not committed “Maybe So.” A shrugged-off, mildly enthusiastic “Sure, why not?” if we’re being really specific about it. I’m barely a TV person as it is, but I can see this persuading me to sit down and watch it. But, to the more TV-inclined among you TFE commenters, I leave you asking:
What do you think of this trailer? Do you plan on watching Mary & George when it comes out?