Movies Hunter here. Today, I have brought a 2008 drama film called “The Other Boleyn Girl.”
The film is set against the backdrop of a defining moment in European history. It revolves around
two Boleyn sisters and the King of England, King Henry the 8th, who are trapped in the cycle of
romance and betrayal. Driven by the family’s blind ambition, the two Boleyn sisters compete
against each other to seduce the handsome King of England. But this blind ambition eventually turns
out to be the downfall of the whole family. To know what happens, watch till the end.
The film begins in the 16th century, where we see Thomas Boleyn, who is contemplating his daughter’s
character with his wife, Lady Elizabeth. Thomas has received an offer from the Carey family to
wed his eldest daughter Anne to William Carey. But Thomas has refused and offered his younger
daughter Mary instead. Thomas explains that although Mary is more beautiful than Anne,
it takes more than a kind heart and good looks to get ahead. Thomas believes that Anne has more
potential and can do much better than Mary in life. Elsewhere, the king of England,
Henry the 8th is having marital troubles with his wife Catherine of Aragon. Catherine is unable to
produce a living male heir to the throne and only has given birth to a surviving child,
Princess Mary. Once Mary Boleyn grows up, she gets married to William Carey. Anne and their brother
George Boleyn wish their sister Mary luck at her wedding. After the festivities, Thomas Howard,
Duke of Norfolk, and his brother-in-law Thomas Boleyn come up with a plot to offer Anne to
King Henry as his mistress. Thomas Boleyn believes that Anne is perfect for the role,
as she is an ambitious girl. When they tell Anne about their plan, Anne instantly agrees, despite
knowing that being a mistress to the king will damage her chances of a high-ranking marriage.
Lady Elizabeth is the only one who opposes this and is disgusted by her husband and brother.
But despite this, a royal visit is nevertheless arranged. After a couple of weeks, the king
arrives at the Boleyn estate and is greeted by Thomas and Elizabeth. Thomas then presents
his daughter Anne to the king, who instantly gets attracted to her. One day, Henry goes for
a hunt and Anne also decides to join him, so that she can seduce him. But during the hunt,
Henry is injured in an accident indirectly caused by Anne. So her uncle directs Mary to nurse Henry.
When Henry awakens, he sees Mary tending to his wounds and is instantly attracted to her.
Henry is so fascinated by her that he invites her and Anne to the court to be ladies in waiting.
Mary is upset by this, as she doesn’t want this kind of life. But since William is
also offered a high position at the court, he reluctantly agrees to go to the court with Mary,
despite knowing what will be expected of her. So the Boleyn family travel to the palace,
where Anne and Mary are presented to the Queen as her new ladies in waiting. The Queen knows why
King Henry chose these two young and beautiful ladies, but she nonetheless accepts them.
Later that evening, everyone gather in the palace’s hall for a party.
There, Anne is trying to seduce a nobleman, Henry Percy, who is already set to marry Lady Talbot.
Sometime later, King Henry comes there and goes straight to Mary. He whispers to her “Tonight.” So
later that night, Anne helps Mary to bed with King Henry. Mary tells Anne that she should be in her
place, but Anne tells her that she will find her own place in the palace. Mary then goes straight
to the king’s bed chambers. King Henry tries to make Mary comfortable before making love to her.
Mary is charmed by King Henry and the two then make love. The next morning,
Mary is summoned by her father and uncle, who asks her if she managed to bed King Henry.
When the two men learn that Mary and King Henry made love multiple times, they are overjoyed. They
want Mary to give King Henry a son so that they can improve their overall status in the palace.
Meanwhile, Anne manages to seduce Henry Percy and marries him in secret.
She tells her brother about the marriage, who then tells Mary.
But Mary is not happy about this, as she fears that Anne will ruin their family reputation.
So she decides to tell her father about the marriage. Thomas Howard and Thomas Boleyn are both
disappointed with Anne. So they forcefully annul the marriage and decide to exile Anne to France.
Mary eventually becomes pregnant with Henry’s child.
Soon after that, the Boleyn family receives new grants and their debts are paid as well.
On top of that, George is now set to marry Jane Parker, whose father is the cousin of the king.
Lady Elizabeth is upset and disgusted over the fate of her children. Her only son is being
married to a woman he doesn’t like, her eldest daughter is in exile, and her younger daughter
is being paraded as an adulterer’s mistress. One day, Mary nearly suffers a miscarriage.
So she is confined to bed until the child is born. Fearing that the King may lose interest in Mary
sooner or later, Thomas Howard and Thomas Boleyn decide to recall Anne from France.
They want her to serve as the king’s temporary mistress. Anne’s father and
uncle think that Anne has changed a lot and is no longer the ambitious girl she used to be.
But they don’t know that Anne is now being driven by revenge and begins seducing the king herself.
Anne’s charm works and Henry is now beginning to fall for her.
But when King Henry tries to get close to her, she simply refuses his advances.
One day, Mary goes into labour and gives birth to a son, Henry Carey. But King Henry is now
completely under the spell of Anne and wants to be with her instead. Anne wants reassurance
that she won't be betrayed by the King, just like he had done to the queen and her sister.
So Henry vows that he will no longer lay with the queen nor speak with Mary. He even decides to
exile Mary and her son to the countryside. Mary is heartbroken by this betrayal but has no choice but
to leave the palace. But Mary’s grief only grows when her husband dies of the sweating sickness,
because of which she is now a widow. Meanwhile, Anne continues to manipulate Henry and demands
him to leave his wife, and then only will she make love to him. So Henry decides to send the
queen to a nunnery. But Anne isn't convinced by this and demands Henry to annul the marriage.
So Henry approaches the Catholic Church to annul the marriage, but the Pope refuses. One day,
Mary is recalled to the court to serve Anne and help her with her schemes. Since Anne badly wants
to become the queen of England, she manipulates Henry into breaking from the Catholic Church.
Henry succumbs to her demands and declares himself the Supreme Head of the Church of England.
Soon after that, he annuls his marriage with the queen and banishes her from the court. Despite
this, Anne still refuses to give herself to him until they are married. But Henry has lost his
patience and is overcome with rage and lust. So he brutally rapes Anne. Anne is deeply traumatized
by the assault, but she nonetheless marries Henry and becomes the new Queen of England.
Meanwhile, William Stafford, a financially modest, but loyal servant of the Boleyn family,
expresses his love for Mary and wants to marry her. But Mary politely refuses his proposal,
saying that her family would never allow it. Months later, Anne gives birth to a healthy
daughter, Elizabeth. But Henry isn't happy about this and blames Anne for not immediately
giving birth to a son. So he secretly starts courting another noblewoman, Jane Seymour.
Anne finds out about it and is getting depressed and paranoid. Henry now despises Anne,
and their marriage is falling apart. But she somehow gets Henry to impregnate her again,
giving her hope that she can give birth to a son. But one day, Anne miscarries the baby.
Anne is deeply troubled by this and fears that she may lose everything that she has achieved.
So she asks her brother George to get rid of the dead baby so that Henry doesn’t find out about
the miscarriage. A hysterical and desperate Anne then begs George to impregnate her, as she fears
that if she doesn’t give birth to a son soon, she will be burned at the stake for witchcraft.
Seeing it as the only way to save not just Anne’s life, but their entire family’s,
Geroge reluctantly agrees to impregnate Anne. However,
the two do not go through with the act and feel ashamed of what they were just about to do.
Unbeknownst to them, Jane, George’s neglected wife, sees them together and is horrified.
She immediately reports this to the King, soon after which George and Anne are arrested.
Meanwhile, Mary leaves the palace with William, as she is fed up with the scheming and wants to
start afresh in the countryside. Lady Elizabeth is devastated by the pain and destruction brought
upon her children by her scheming husband and brother. The two are put on trial but are
found guilty by a biased jury, despite the fact that there is no proof against Anne and George.
So the two are sentenced to death for treason, adultery, and incest. Even their uncle turns
against them and finds them guilty. When Mary learns about this, she immediately returns
back to London, but George is beheaded by that time. Mary begs King Henry to spare Anne’s life,
stating that Anne is her other half. Henry says that he would never hurt any part of her.
Believing that Henry has decided to spare Anne, Mary leaves and goes to tell Anne.
But Anne doesn’t trust Henry and tells Mary to look after her daughter if anything should happen
to her. Anne then walks to the execution ground and tells the audience that she is no witch.
She hasn’t committed any sin she is accused of. Her only sin was that she dreamed big.
Mary, who is watching Anne make her final speech, receives a message from King Henry, who reveals
his decision to have Anne executed after all. He also warns Mary to never return to his court
again, or else she will meet the same fate. Anne accepts her fate and prepares for her execution.
Mary can only watch in horror as her sister is beheaded. She then takes toddler Elizabeth with
her and immediately leaves the court, fulfilling her final promise to Anne. Wretched and disgraced,
Sir Thomas Boleyn died two years later. As for Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk, he was later
imprisoned. The next three generations of his family were all executed for treason.
Henry’s decision to break with the Catholic Church changed the face of England forever. As for Mary,
she married William and lived happily with him away from court for the rest of her life.
King Henry’s fear of leaving England without a strong successor turned out to be unfounded.
He did leave an heir, who was to rule over England and lead the country into a prosperous
golden age. It was not a boy he yearned for, but the strong red-haired girl Anne gave him,
“Queen Elizabeth 1”. So this was the story of “The Other Boleyn Girl.”
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