Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. That’s a useful mnemonic that many children at school use to remember what an utter bastard Henry VIII was to his unfortunate wives.

Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz, makes his English language debut featuring one of those women from that particular list – Katherine Parr.

With her hubby away with work, Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) enjoys the responsibility her husband, Henry VIII (Jude Law), has bestowed upon her in his absence. It’s possibly a sign of his commitment to her, which wasn’t necessarily shown to the many wives before her.

So one day she pops off to the woods to pray at a shrine, only to meet an old school friend there, Anne Askew (Erin Doherty). It’s a very dangerous meeting, as Askew has a reputation for being a radical, not favoured by the king and his court. Despite this, Katherine decides to give her a piece of jewellery that the king gave her, as money is tight and is needed if she’s to continue to spread her word.

She then hears that the king is returning early, due to ill health, and prepares the court.

All is well at first, with the king seemingly pleased to see her, but he becomes increasingly more suspicious with his bishop Gardiner (Simon Russell Beale) updating him of her goings on, putting her life in danger, like those before her.

Compared to the lame monarchs we have today, there was some serious reigning to be had back in the day. And old Henry was one of the most contentious, which is why you can understand the appeal for Aïnouz.

The issue is the vital part that Parr plays in it, which is of course pivotal. It’s disappointing then to see Vikander in the role. The Swedish actress has always been, and still remains, two dimensional in everything she plays. She is instantly forgettable here, making very little impact in a leading role. Perhaps it’s the fact that her face has just the one expression, so emoting any other is simply beyond her.

Thankfully there’s Law on hand to beef up his Henry, clearly taking up all the slack left by Vikander. He embraces the grotesque nature of the man, to the point where he’s almost a pantomime villain in his royal court. And it’s just as well as he’s playing off nothing more than a mannequin for the entire film.

Perhaps it’s not entirely Vikander’s fault, after all this is the director’s first film in English, and certainly some of the dialogue could have been improved upon, occasionally feeling a little flat in places.

Considering the mayhem going on in court, it’s all a little too subtle – including Vikander’s performance - to the point that it doesn’t quite do history justice.