When King Gustav II Adolph of Sweden died in 1632 at the Battle of Lützen during the Thirty Years’ War, he was succeeded by a six-year-old girl, Christina, his only living heir. In keeping with her father’s expressed wishes, her regents raised her as if she were a crown prince. When she reached majority, she had the kind of education usually only afforded boys. But she had also developed ideas that were anathema to the strict Protestant court. She wanted to end the war with the Catholics and turn her subjects into enlightened people with an appreciation for art. She exchanged letters with René Descartes and explored the concept of free will. She wore trousers and rejected the marriage proposals of her suitors. She developed a close relationship with young countess Ebba Sparre, whom she appointed royal lady-in-waiting. The film is a richly detailed period piece profiling a highly complex female figure – and the rejection she engendered in her contemporaries.