Firebrand is a 2023 British historical drama film directed by Karim Aïnouz and written by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth, based on the 2013 novel Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle. The film focuses on Katherine Parr, Queen of England the sixth wife of Henry VIII. It stars Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, and Eddie Marsan. The film marks Aïnouz's first directorial effort in the English language. Firebrand premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival on 21 May 2023, where it was selected to compete for Palme d'Or. It was released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2024.

Plot

Katherine Parr (Vikander), the sixth wife of King Henry VIII (Law), is named regent while the king leads his army in France. Katherine looks after Henry’s children, Mary, Elizabeth and Edward. Katherine takes risks to meet up with an old friend, Anne Askew, who is preaching Protestantism and later executed as a heretic. When the king returns, increasingly ill and paranoid, Katherine finds herself fighting for her own survival as Henry's courtiers increasingly try to turn the king against her. Katherine becomes pregnant, but has a miscarriage shortly after. Bishop Gardiner believes Katherine’s religious views are dangerous, and convinces Henry to have her arrested. She is locked in a dungeon, but Henry soon frees her. Afraid for her future, she goes to his bedside and kills him.

Cast

Production

The film was announced during the 2021 American Film Market. Karim Aïnouz was set to direct, with Michelle Williams and Jude Law cast to star. In March 2022, Alicia Vikander joined the cast, replacing Williams. In May, Sam Riley, Eddie Marsan, Simon Russell Beale and Erin Doherty were among the additional cast announced for the film. Filming began by April 2022, with shooting taking place at Haddon Hall in Bakewell, Derbyshire until June.

Release

Firebrand was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival, where it had its world premiere on 21 May 2023. FilmNation Entertainment sold the film to STXinternational for the United Kingdom and to Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions for multiple markets including Germany and Asia excluding Japan and independent distributors elsewhere. Amazon Prime Video was rumoured to have been in negotiations to acquire UK rights from STX, but it was later revealed the deal had already taken place in 2022. It was released in cinemas in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2024. In December 2023, Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment acquired US distribution rights to the film, scheduling it for a cinema release on 14 June 2024.

Reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 55% of 58 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10. The website's consensus reads: "Divorced from the historical record with little to show for it, Firebrand is a period piece whose revisionist aims are at odds with its stultifying approach." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 61 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

References

External links

Official website Firebrand at IMDb