Outlaw King

The film starred an ensemble cast led by Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce, alongside Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Billy Howle, Sam Spruell, Tony Curran, Callan Mulvey, James Cosmo, and Stephen Dillane. It premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2018, and was digitally released on November 9, 2018, by Netflix. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its production design, sets, performances, and choreography, but criticism for its historical inaccuracies and clichés.

Plot[edit]

In 1304, outside the besieged Stirling Castle, John Comyn, Robert Bruce and their allies surrender to Edward I of England and grant him their homage.


Afterwards, Bruce becomes friends with the king's son, Edward, Prince of Wales, and is wed to his goddaughter, Elizabeth de Burgh. Lord James Douglas arrives, asking for the restoration of his ancestral lands, but is denied on the grounds that his father Lord Douglas committed treason. The King and Prince depart Scotland, with Bruce and Comyn acting as their vassals under the supervision of the Earl of Pembroke, Aymer de Valence.


Elizabeth marries Bruce, but he respectfully delays the consummation. Not long after, his father, the Lord of Annandale, dies, fearing his friendship with the King of England may have been an error.


Soon after, while delivering tax monies to the English, Bruce notes their unpopularity. Rioting ensues when rebel William Wallace is quartered. Bruce decides to organize another rebellion with the support of his family, including Elizabeth. Trying to persuade Comyn to join them, he threatens to inform Edward. Bruce kills him in a panic. The Scottish clergy offers him absolution for serving the English if he supports the Catholic Church and accepts the Crown of Scotland. King Edward declares Bruce an outlaw and orders the Prince of Wales to suppress his uprising, with instructions that no quarter is to be shown to any Bruce supporter.


Calling a council of nobles, most refuse to break their oaths to Edward. Despite the lack of support, Bruce heads to Scone to be crowned king of the Scots. On the way, Douglas pledges his allegiance. The ambitious de Valence, brother-in-law to Comyn, tries to move against Bruce before the Prince arrives. To avoid bloodshed, he challenges de Valence to single combat, who accepts but delays the duel a day, as it is Sunday. That night, Bruce and Elizabeth finally consummate their marriage, but the English launch a surprise attack. Elizabeth and Marjorie Bruce are sent to safety with his brother Nigel, and he fights a losing battle, during which most of the Scottish army is killed. Escaping with fifty men, they flee to Islay. On the way, John MacDougall parleys with them, bitter about the murder of his cousin Comyn but allows them to pass. Later, however, he attacks Bruce as his party attempt to cross Loch Ryan. Some get away in boats, but Bruce's brother Alexander dies.


Prince Edward arrives in Scotland, searching for Bruce at Kildrummy Castle, only to find Bruce's wife, daughter, and brother. The prince has Nigel hanged, drawn, and quartered, and sends Marjorie and Elizabeth into captivity in England. Bruce's band presses on to Islay anyway; there, they learn of the fall of Kildrummy Castle. Bruce decides to take back the castle through stealth. The successful operation inspires him to utilize guerilla warfare against the more powerful English. Shortly thereafter, Bruce is reunited with his only surviving brother, Edward. In England, Elizabeth learns that Marjorie has been ordered to join a nunnery by King Edward. After Edward hears Douglas Castle has been re-taken, he goes after Bruce himself. Edward offers amnesty to Elizabeth if she renounces her marriage, but she refuses and is put in a hanging cage.


King Edward dies shortly after arriving in Scotland, and the Prince takes over his forces. Bruce fights the new king in a pitched battle at Loudoun Hill, despite being outnumbered six to one. As Edward's army is composed almost entirely of cavalry, Robert overcomes his army's size disadvantage in the battle with a spear wall hidden by a ditch. Attempting to attack the flanks, horsemen become bogged down in the mud, as anticipated. The English knights fall from their horses, many are slain, and the battle becomes an open brawl, where the Scots prevail over the disoriented English soldiers, with James killing the noble whom King Edward had granted his family's lands to. Realising the battle is hopeless, de Valence orders a retreat. However, determined to kill his nemesis, Edward does not join them. Instead, he duels Bruce as the Scots look on. Edward is outmatched, and realising he is about to be slain, he vomits in fear and cries for help. Bruce prevails, allowing Edward to leave unharmed.


In the epilogue: Elizabeth was released while the Prince of Wales was crowned King Edward II, then killed by his own lords in a rebellion some years later. Three hundred years later, Robert's descendant through his daughter unified the crowns of England and Scotland, and Sir James Douglas' descendant, Marion Hamilton, married Kentigern Hunter, who died at the battle of Pinkie Cleugh, the last battle between England and Scotland before the union of the crowns, in 1547.

Release[edit]

The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 6, 2018.^[15] The premiere's runtime of 137 minutes and its pacing were criticised in early reviews, and Mackenzie subsequently cut nearly 20 minutes from the film.^[14] Cut material includes a battle scene, a major confrontation backdropped by a waterfall, an eight-minute chase sequence, and a scene in which Pine's character meets William Wallace in the woods.^[16][17] The film had its European premiere at the London Film Festival in October 2018^[18] and was commercially released on November 9, 2018.^[19]