In blood-soaked Tudor England, twice married, accomplished, and educated
Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander), reluctantly agrees to become the
sixth wife of the tyrannical King Henry VIII (Jude Law). Her consent to
marry him carries great personal risk, given that her predecessors are
either vanquished, beheaded, or dead. When Henry appoints her as Regent,
the nation's ruler during his absence when he departs to fight
overseas, he lays a dangerous path for her. Henry's courtiers,
suspecting she's sympathetic to radical Protestant beliefs that have
taken root in the kingdom and are a threat to their power, scheme
against her and cast doubts upon her fidelity to the increasingly ailing
and paranoid King. Once Henry returns to England, his courtiers
convince him to turn his fury on the nation's radicals, including
Katherine's childhood friend Anne Askew, who becomes one of the scores
of people convicted of treason and burned at the stake. Horrified and
privately grieving, Katherine finds herself under ever-increasing
scrutiny and suspicion. Knowing that even a whisper of scandal might
lead to her downfall, Katherine must unleash her own scheme to fight for
survival.
Law, one moment charming,
the next threatening, and the radiant Vikander make Firebrand a
fascinating, if choppy, feminist chapter in the voluminous Tudor film
archives. - Thelma Adams, AARP Movies for Grownups