Mary & George (Season 1)

Mary & George (2024) is a British historical drama you can watch online on iFILM. It draws on the real life of Mary Villiers, a down-at-heel noblewoman who set out to train her own son into a weapon — one beautiful enough to capture a king and haul the whole family up with him.

The story unfolds at the court of James I in the early 1600s. Mary, played by Julianne Moore, ships her handsome and coldly clever son George (Nicholas Galitzine) off to France to learn the art of seduction, then steers him into the path of an aging monarch with a weakness for young favorites. What follows is all bedchambers, titles, blackmail and poison, as mother and son claw their way from rural poverty to the most powerful seats in England, elbowing the royal council aside. Seven episodes, with Oliver Hermanus among the directors.

The scripts grew out of Benjamin Woolley's book The King's Assassin, but the series deliberately walks the line between costume drama and acid-black comedy about power and desire. Moore plays Mary as cold and ruthless as a chess master, and her performance alone earns the watch. Anyone who took to The Favourite or The Great will feel right at home. Stream Mary & George (2024) online on iFILM.