This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labour of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn't exist.
Most people will, at some point over the course of a year, watch a “historical” drama. Usually biography or military, and sometimes both, there are two important camps to note. The first camp is the “been adapted from history”; the other is the “been inspired by historical events.” The Adapted camp tries to engage with historical sources, witnesses, communities, etc. Maybe there will be a composite character for dramatism, or perhaps one historical aspect will be the main focus instead of another for narrative reasons. However, generally, it tries at least to be as historically authentic as cinema can allow itself to be. In the Inspired camp, all bets are off, and don't be too shocked when the rocket car from Ages of Empires shows up.
Opening with the slaughter of the druids on Ynys Mon (Anglesey) by the Romans, word reaches Nero and the Roman officials that the Britons are awaiting a warrior goddess, the Boudica. Nero outlaws any woman in the empire from holding high rank. The action cuts to the Iceni settlement where King Prasutagus (Clive Standen) and his family live idyllic lives, utterly unfazed by the neon “Tragedy Occurring in” countdown flashing above their heads. After Prasutagus's untimely death, his lands are taken by the Romans and his wife (Olga Kurylenko) is tortured. Rescued by Cartimanda (Lucy Martin) and her tribe's people, Prasutagus's wife is declared to be the Boudica. Joined by the Saxon Wolfgar (Peter Franzén), the Boudica is presented with a magic sword to lead her people to freedom before the film's tragic ending.
For the lovers of history, everything is painted in broad brushstrokes. Roman and Celtic Briton historical titbits are added enough to create a veneer of historical accuracy. But it's all empty like adding needless technobabble to make a Sci-Fi movie about worm-people seem realistic. Nero is more akin to Caligula; Saxons and Christians are in Britain a few centuries ahead of schedule. Costumes, while more colourful than the mulch brown and decaying grey of the post-Game of Thrones world, are more Hollywood than history, and, again, it has a magic sword in it.
So, leaving the historical inaccuracies aside, is Boudica a good film? No, but it also isn't a bad film. Director Jesse V. Johnson was clearly working with a smaller budget than more historical films would use, so he and cinematographer Jonathan Hall have worked to create the feel of something visually epic. Coupled with soft light photography, Boudica feels like a dream of the real Boudica.
However, soft lighting and good camera work can only take a film so far. Many characters feel like two-dimensional signposts only there to point Kurylenko's Boudica in the right direction. Her transformation from mother and queen to messianic conqueror should be engaging enough for a story for the film. It feels like everyone else is a mannequin. Wolfgar is only introduced after the midway point, and Cartimanda is forgotten about during the last act until the climax.
There also seems to be an issue with Boudica's own journey. It's known that the Romans' treatment of her and her family triggered Boudica's revolt. But here, she doesn't even have a name until she begins fighting back. It is only when she becomes the fabled warrior goddess that she gains any form of power. Boudica is not a woman with agency leading her people but a figure fulfilling a role. It's not her skill or cunning as a fighter or queen but a magic sword that earns her the respect of the tribes. Starting as a figure with access to both Briton and Roman cultures, she has to become the Noble Savage stock character to win rather than using both to defeat the superior Romans.
Despite its problems, Boudica is not the worst film, though it's by no means the best. It's just another of the plethora of supposed historical films doomed solely to a streaming service and DVD release.
Signature Entertainment presents Boudica on Digital Platforms 30th October
