Farewell, My Queen (Les adieus à la reine), directed by Benoit Jacquot, appears to focus on Queen Marie Antoinette (played by Diane Kruger) but actually develops the character of fictional Léa Seydoux (played by Sidonie Laborde), who is the queen’s story reader. But there is not much to develop, as she does whatever she is told. Although the portrayal presumes that filmviewers will sympathize with her, two evoke more sympathy: King Louis XV (played by Xavier Beauvois) dutifully negotiates with the new power structure in Paris for a period of three years before he is beheaded. And Marie, a young woman who was brought from Austria to friendless Paris in an arranged marriage, is trapped at court and would really prefer to be home in Vienna. To reveal the circumstances of Léa’s farewell to Marie would be a spoiler unless filmviewers have read the 2003 novel by Chantal Thomas on which the film is based. MH