Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson co-star as the infamous Boleyn sisters, who use passion and persuasion, delusions of grandeur and deceit to vie for the love of King Henry (Eric Bana) and advance their family’s status.
Their father, Sir Thomas Boleyn and his brother-in-law, the Duke of Norfolk suspect that Henry, convinced that his aging queen, Katherine of Aragon, will never provide the male heir he so desperately desires, will soon be searching for a mistress. Their first idea is to offer the headstrong, dark-eyed Anne as a candidate for the king's consort and maneuver her into the monarch's line of sight. Upon meeting her, Henry is momentarily intrigued, but she's too much of a handful. Instead he fixates on Mary, the sweet, gentle sister -- it doesn't matter that she's already married.
The stage is set for a lifelong rivalry between the siblings.
The Boleyn family is installed at Hampton Court Palace. Together, Henry and Mary conceive a son, but it's not long before Henry's eye begins to wander again, this time back to Anne: After an imprudent secret marriage, she's been packed off to France, where her brazen manner has supposedly been toned down. Now she's back, and Henry seems to like her much better and the machinations that eventually sever England's connection with the Catholic church and Anne's head from her shoulders begin.
