Red Queen
Genre: Fantasy/Action
Director: Niki Caro
Writer: Abbie Q
Producer: Steven Spielberg
Based on the novel by Victoria Aveyard
Cast: Dafne Keen, Dominic Sessa, Rose Byrne, Wyatt Oleff, Montana Jordan, Sophie Nelisse, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Mikey Madison, David Ajala, Alisha Weir, Archie Renaux
Plot: We begin by learning that there are two different types of people in the world: Reds and Silvers. The Reds are treated as slaves and are penniless since they do not have the abilities that Silvers have.
On the First Friday, the one day each month when work and school end early for Reds to watch two Silvers battle in a televised match. Mare, an oppressed Red, shuffles through the crowd, pickpocketing trinkets. She meets up with Kilorn Warren (Montana Jordan), her only real friend.
In The Stilts, a village of houses built on high stilts keeping them above the muddy ground, Mare (Dafne Keen) goes to her small home. Gisa (Alisha Weir), Mare’s younger sister, works on silk embroidery while their mother cooks dinner and their father, who lost a leg, sits in his wheelchair. Mare drops her pouch of stolen money and goods on the table. Sparking an argument about how much she steals, her mother asks why Mare can’t be more like Gisa and get a job. Gisa stops the fight by bringing out a letter from Shade, one of their brothers, from the war. As soon as Mare finishes reading the letter, the lights go out.
Mare hears Kilorn’s disguised bird call outside and leaves to find him distraught. His apprenticeship master died, which means he no longer has a job. Since he can’t find new work, he will be sent to the war.Unwilling to let Kilorn be lost to the war, Mare suggests they use the black market trade in town to be smuggled to safety. Kilorn agrees it’s worth a try, and Mare visits her contact. Mare meets Diana Farley (Sophie Nelisse), a member of the Scarlet Guard rebel force of Reds. Farley agrees to smuggle Mare and Kilorn, but it’ll cost 1000 crowns.
At home, Mare lies awake, wracking her brain for a way to pay the fee. Gisa shifts in her sleep, Mare realizes her sister can help. The next day, disguised as a merchant, Mare accompanies Gisa to the Summer Palace, a massive city surrounded by a wall of impregnable “diamond glass.” Inside, the gleaming palace is at the center of a bustling marketplace.
Mare wanders around the city, taking the lay of the land. A news broadcast comes on the screens. The terrorist group called the Scarlet Guard is taking responsibility for the bombing of the capital. Mare doesn’t believe it until Farley appears on the screen. She announces the Scarlet Guard will bring the fight to the Silvers’ homes until they recognize the Reds as their equals.
Chaos breaks out in the city as Silvers round up Reds and demand answers, torturing some. Mare nearly drowns in a fountain manipulated by a Silver, but Gisa saves her. As they run for the city gate, Mare admits she doesn’t have time to steal anything. Gisa tries to pick a passing Silver’s pocket, but she’s caught. As punishment, a guard holds her down and slams his gun against her fingers.
After delivering Gisa home, Mare runs away, too afraid to face her parents or Kilorn. She settles in the shadows of a tavern and pickpockets drunken patrons as they exit. Finally, she decides to take from one patron, who catches her. Rather than reporting her, he gives her a coin.
After introducing himself, Cal walks Mare partway home. On the way, after discussing the riots, Mare breaks down, telling him her entire situation. He gives her another coin before disappearing into the night. Unable to settle down, she reads her brother’s old letters quoting Farley’s words about the dawn rising. Mare realizes her brother’s a member of the Scarlet Guard.
The next morning, a royal messenger summons Mare to the Summer Palace. She’s been given a job as a server for the royal family. Today is Queenstrial, when all the highborn Silver daughters compete to be the next queen.
For the next several hours, Mare helps prepare an arena-like room for the trial. Finally, King Tiberias Calore VI (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Queen Elara Merandus (Rose Byrne) announce the trials, introducing the crown prince who’ll pick a wife. The prince, Tiberias the Seventh (Dominic Sessa), waves to the crowd. Mare drops whatever she’s holding because Cal’s the crown prince.
The leader of a Silver House uses his power to rearrange the arena so there’s an empty cylinder at its center. A net of electricity crackles twenty feet above the floor, which opens to reveal a beautiful young girl. She smirks at Cal before demolishing everything in the arena. The electric net is to protect against flying debris. Mare realizes the Queenstrial is a pageant.
Many girls show off their powers one after another. The final daughter, Evangeline Samos (Mickey Madison), manipulates the metal pipes, causing the entire structure to tilt sideways. Mare falls out of the box where she’s serving. Landing on the electric web, Mare is strangely unharmed. Suddenly, Evangeline attacks, but just as quickly, Mare burns up her metal shards with lightning. King Tiberias orders his guards to seize Mare. Mare stumbles into someone who apologizes before the thickening smoke takes her.
Mare relives memories and nightmares from her past. When she wakes in a cage, Queen Elara stands outside the cell. She’s been poking through Mare’s mind. The only reason Mare’s still alive is because of so many witnesses.
Later, a security officer arrives with fresh clothes that bare silver lines. Mare is brought to meet with the royal family. They have decided to lie to the public. Mare’s new identity is the daughter of a lost Silver house who was raised by Reds. She’ll wed Maven (Wyatt Oleff), Cal’s younger brother. She’ll also help protect the Silvers from the Scarlet Guard. Mare senses that King Tiberias feels more threatened than he lets on. Before accepting the royal family’s terms, Mare demands her brothers return from the war and Kilorn not be conscripted. King Tiberias agrees, but sounds more like a death sentence.
Mare’s new name is Lady Mareena Titanos. In her new chambers, she hates her new appearance. Cal comes to see her and apologizes for getting her into this mess. She recognizes he stopped her from escaping. He explains all the reasons she’s better off where she is; Queen Elara would’ve hunted her down and likely killed her family.
Later, Mare goes to a banquet, where the royal family will formally debut her. On the way, she meets up with the queen, Queen Elara, who clarifies Mare’s cover story. Elara reminds the precarious line Mare walks and to lie "like your life depends on it, little lightning girl."
Mare enters the banquet, where King Tiberias and Queen Elara announce her identity to the waiting Silver nobles. The tension from the girls involved in the Queenstrial is thick. Next, Cal announces his choice for queen. It’s Evangeline, to no one’s surprise. Evangeline accepts and retakes her seat, gripping Mare’s arm hard warning her.
During dinner, Mare sits beside Maven, who apologizes for being cold. He should've gotten to choose who he would wed and is sad the choice has been taken away. Mare tells him he doesn’t deserve sympathy because he lives in extreme luxury. Maven agrees and watches Cal and their father laughing together. For a moment, Mare feels bad but remembers she can’t pity these people. At the end of the banquet, Maven walks Evangeline to her room while Cal takes Mare to her new chambers.
On the way, they talk about how they’re trapped in the Silver world—neither truly happy with what they must do. As she reflects on their similarities, Mare feels the electricity in her blood reaching out to the many cameras all around her. In her room, more cameras spark the same sensation. Cal's perplexed because he doesn’t see any. Feeling lost and alone, Mare closes herself in her room.
Mare’s daily schedule starts the next day. After lunch, Mare meets her second instructor, Julian Jacos (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). As they talk, Mare feels there are no cameras because Julian has turn them off. He believes Mare’s the kind of change needed to heal the broken relationship between Silvers and Reds. Mare isn’t convinced but he might be her only hope for survival.
Throughout the first week, Mare continuously fails to produce her powers. Julian finally suggests she stop trying. Mare relaxes and feels the electricity in her blood. She relaxes into the sensation. As she practices more, Julian realizes that Mare is creating the elecrity. Maven arrives and orders to leave them alone.
Alone, Maven tells Mare everything will be all right. Mare snaps that he can’t possibly understand her. He retorts with all the ways he’s a prisoner in his life: his mother checks his mind and always be in Cal’s shadow. Maven observes Mare and offers to help her see her family.
At her house, Mare learns her brother Shade is dead. The Silvers found out he was part of the Scarlet Guard. Mare’s power flares with her anger, causing the lightbulbs to shatter. Kilorn manages to help her regain control. She explains the truth of her situation. Her family understands, but Kilorn is enraged, before storming out. As Mare and Cal leave, Gisa tells Mare that her power is a gift.
The next morning, Mare wakes to a maid standing over her bed. The maid goes about her work, remaining silent. Before she leaves, she gives Mare a teacup that reveals a message for Mare to be ready at midnight.
Mare switches to training with the other Silvers. She does her best to ignore Evangeline and the other girls. The moment Rane Arven (David Ajala), the trainer, enters the room, Mare feels her abilities fade. Arven is “the silence,” who can turn off Silver powers. Training is intense and exhausting, but Mare feels invigorated by her improvement.
In her lesson with Julian that afternoon, he reveals his power to control people as long as he retains eye-contact. He tells Mare about his sister, that she and Cal’s father married for love. She wanted to change Silver society, but she was killed for it. Julian warns Mare that those with power will kill anyone they deem a threat.
The midnight meeting takes place a week later. Mare is one of two recruits, and the second is Maven. Farley puts a gun to Maven’s head and demands to hear Maven’s reason for joining the guard. Maven tells a story about his time at the front line of the war. Maven wasn’t allowed to save a befriended Red. He would gladly give his life if it means change. Farley lowers her gun accepting Maven’s words.
Farley outlines the plan using Mare and Maven as the faces of the rebellion. They develop a plan to make a statement at the parting ball. Mare asks Farley to make sure Kilorn doesn’t join the Guard. Mare doesn’t want him to die like her brother did. Kilorn steps from the shadows, revealing he’s already there.
As the ball approaches, at training, the students are pitted against each other tournament-style. Maven loses and Cal gives him a lecture. Cal walks away with an easy victory. He glances toward Mare, but she looks away. Evangeline challenges Mare to a battle.
Mare refuses the challenge, but Evangeline forces it. Evangeline forms a team of metal spiders. Mare pulls electricity from everywhere. For a moment, she has Evangeline on the run. Evangeline knocks Mare to the floor hard having spiders attack her. Maven and Cal intervene. Maven takes Mare to Julian while Cal rages at Evangeline. In the hall, they encounter Queen Elara, who warns Mare to be more careful about her blood. Mare snaps making Elara almost kills her. Maven pulls Elara off Mare. Mare runs, leaving Maven and Elara in a silent battle.
At lunch, Mare finds a regimen of soldiers who're preparing to ship out. Cal will lead them, which leaves Mare feeling deathly afraid for him. That night, Cal comes to Mare’s room and offers to help her learn to dance for the ball. Mare knows she shouldn’t but fears she may never see him again.
Cal sets out a speaker that plays a slower song. Cal leads Mare in a dance, commenting that Maven fixed her wound nicely. Mare explains it was Julian and his healer friend, which makes Cal tense. He dislikes Julian and the healer for reasons he won’t say. He tells Mare to be ready to practice at the same time the next night and leaves her. Mare returns to her bedroom, where she finds Maven waiting for her. Farley made contact, and Maven gave up four names. The deaths will likely result in Cal away from the front lines, which relieves Mare for reasons she doesn’t quite understand.
The night before the ball, Cal comes to Mare’s room for more dance lessons. Mare expresses her concern about him going to the front lines. Cal shrugs it off but says he’ll miss her. Mare backs away, but when Cal pulls her close and kisses her, she doesn’t stop him.
The following night at the ball, Mare watches the interplay between Maven and his parents. Though Elara's wicked, it’s clear she loves Maven,who loves her back. Mare stands in line with the royal family, greeting guests. As she shakes hands with the four targets Maven gave Farley, she feels increasingly uneasy about what will happen. Maven is no more comfortable with their deaths but knows it’ll be the catalyst for change.
Mare dances with Maven until it’s time to signal the members of the Scarlet Guard hiding high above the party. She drinks a glass of golden liquid. A minute later, four gunshots ring out, followed by screams.
In the aftermath of the gunfire, Mare cuts the power to the lights, plunging the room into darkness for the Reds to escape. She holds on until a fleeing woman knocks her over, putting her face-to-face with one of the corpses. Cal finds her and makes sure she gets to safety before leading a group on a manhunt for the assassins. An explosion rocks the palace. Mare joins the rest of the royal family. Elara and King Tiberias argue about the mistakes they’ve made. As Elara storms out, Cal and Evangeline arrive.
Cal leads the group to the cells, where a group of Reds, including Kilorn, are held. Cal demands an explanation form Kilorn. Suddenly, everyone stops with the arrival of Evangeline’s brother, Ptolemus Samos (Archie Renaux). He kills one prisoner. Mare shocks him before he can murder more. King Tiberias orders the prisoners to be left overnight. King Tiberias vows to bring death to the Reds responsible through any means necessary. In the resulting cheers, Mare shares a look with Maven.
Later that night, Mare visits Julian to tell him about her involvement. Summoning her guard, Jullian uses his power to have him take them to the cells. Mare turns off all the cameras. Julian tells all the guards not to remember them. In the cells, Mare demands to know about the bomb. Farley swears it wasn’t the Guard’s doing. The Reds escape but Kilorn lingers. Mare pushes him out, knowing she needs to stay to help the cause.
The next morning, Mare learns the royal family's leaving that afternoon. Elara questioned guards about the escape last night. Maven ran interference, directing suspicion away from Mare. Cal emerges from his room in a foul mood and wearing armor. He will team up with Evangeline’s brother to seek out the rebels.
With no lessons to attend, Mare wanders through the palace until she arrives at Julian’s chamber. It’s been emptied in preparation for leaving. Julian lies and tells Mare he’s not returning to the capital but Mare knows he’s getting a head start before Elara learns of his involvement in the escape.
On the ships that afternoon, Maven updates Mare on the investigation into the escape. The Red blood that was found in the cells will be analyzed. Mare panics because it’s her blood, which means her death’s imminent. Maven kisses her with a ferocity that surprises them both.
The journey up the river fills Mare with dread. Finally, they reach the capital, and Mare struggles to fathom its magnificence. As she studies it, she realizes it’s a fortress built to endure war. Winning against such a place will be nearly impossible, but Mare must try for all the Reds whose lives are worse than hers was.
In her room, Mare finds a gift from Julian: a book that looks normal but contains the names and details of Reds who have a new marker in their blood that makes them somehow both Red and Silver. This means that Mare isn't unique; she is one of many. Julian urges Mare to find them and train them. They might be the new dawn and the world’s only chance
Maven proposed Mare’s records be erased so there's no evidence she was born Red, and the royal family agreed. As a result, Mare’s background, including everything and more are destroyed. Maven came through on his promise to save her.
The next day, Mare joins Maven for the first of many public appearances. As they tour the capital, Mare sees Reds being abused and called names, and her heart aches. At one point, she manages to ditch her guards, and a little boy hands her a note from the Guard telling her and Maven to go to an afternoon show. They're seated in a private box, and after a few minutes, the ceiling opens. They climb up, where Will from the Stilts is waiting to guide them to a meeting.
Will leads them to an underground train built in secret. The train heads south toward the area thought to be overtaken by radiation. Maven and Mare panic until the train stops and Farley disembarks without a care. Maven argues that the detector machines have reported radiation, to which Farley reminds him that Reds built the detectors.
Above ground, Mare finds a thriving community among the ruins. Farley brings them to a building where Kilorn waits. Mare reveals the list of names Julian left her of hybrid Red-Silvers. Farley and Kilorn argue it'll take too long to find them. Maven comes up with the idea to stage a coup d’état and force King Tiberias to listen to the Guard’s terms. Begrudgingly, Farley agrees with the plan, and the attempted coup will take place at dawn the next morning.
Later, on a balcony. Mare orchestrated it so Cal'd find her. She reprimands him for his attitude toward the Reds. She asks why Cal helped her back before he knew she was different. Mare shrugs this off until Cal compares her to his birth mother. As hard as Mare tries to hate him, they're more alike than different. She leaves him feeling torn.
Early the next morning, she and Maven meet Farley. Farley gives Mare an earring from Kilorn, a match for the other three Mare wears. Using his powers of fire, Maven collapses the bridge leading between the east and west sides of the capital. Patrols, including Cal’s, respond, and Mare confronts Cal, begging him to call off the war, dethrone his father, and save her before she's identified as the one who helped the rebels escape.
Instead of siding with her, Cal believes her actions have added to the bloodshed. He sends his soldiers after the Red rebels arresting Mare and Maven. Mare throws at Cal the names of her loved ones she’s lost to the war and Silver cruelty. Cal wishes things were different before turning his back to her.
Cal and the guards lead Mare and Maven in shackles to a soundproof room without cameras. King Tiberias Calore VI and Queen Elara wait. Elara dismisses all the guards except Arven, who keeps a hold on Mare and Maven’s powers. The truth of Mare’s and Maven’s involvement with the Scarlet Guard comes out. King Tiberias Calore VI orders Mare and Maven to be executed, but Elara uses her power to subdue him and Cal before nodding to Maven. He uses his power to burn off his shackles and joins his mother.
In a flash, Mare angrily realizes Maven only got close to her on his mother’s orders. Using her powers, Elara forces Cal to kill his father. Then the room’s cameras turn on to broadcast Elara throwing herself over King Tiberias Calore VI’s body while Maven yells about how Cal murdered their father. Arven releases Mare’s power, and she drags Cal away. They make it to a banquet hall, where guards surround them.
Mare and Cal are brought to the Bowl of Bones, a cell where public executions take place. They ponder how they will be killed and how Elara and Maven tricked them. Mare sobs, and the warmth of Cal's body brings the last tiniest bit of comfort.
Later, Maven comes to see them. He confirms that Elara masterminded the death of Cal’s mother. Cal feels broken and sorry he didn’t listen to Julian. Mare tries to appeal to Maven but to no avail. He tells her everyone she loves and that the other Reds will die slowly and leave her hopeless.
The next morning, the execution battle takes place. Cal will be given an honorable death, but Mare’s powers will be suppressed so she dies as a traitor. Screens show a carefully crafted series of moments between Cal and Mare that had been recorded by cameras, ending with King Tiberias Calore VI’s murder. High above, Maven, Elara, and other nobles watch as Maven sentences Mare and Cal to execution. Five opponents step from the opposite end of the ring, Evangeline among them.
The fight begins. The opponents gain the upper hand quickly, partly due to the sandy floor being difficult for Cal to light on fire. Cal manages to fend off Evangeline and her brother while Mare works her way around to where Arven stands, leading a strongarm along. A Silver who manipulates water douses Cal’s flame and starts to boil him with his heat. At the far end of the arena, Mare waits until the strongarm throws a sharpened pipe at her. At the last moment, she moves so the pipe strikes Arven, killing him. Her lightning returns. Her sparking power and red blood are captured on screen.
Mare kills two opponents making Evangeline and her brother run. Cal & Mare look up to find the arena empty except for Maven, Elara, and an army of sentinels crowding them. A row of guns poke from the hole, firing at the sentinels. Members of the Scarlet Guard pull Cal and Mare off the edge falling into the water far below.
Mare comes to consciousness in the Scarlet Guard’s underground train. Members of the Guard point their weapons at Cal, who sits shackled. Farley and Kilorn survived, and Mare’s brother Shade is there, too, alive. As Mare watches, he moves so fast due to the power of teleportation.
Mare orders the Guard to release Cal. They argue he is a danger, but Mare doesn’t believe it. Farley confirms she still has the list of Reds with the mutated gene. Mare impresses the importance of finding them before Maven. She shares a look with Cal. Though their friendship's broken, they share the desire to kill Maven.
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