The Reckoning (2003)

R
110 min
Crime
August 6, 2003

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New images from THE RECKONING!

...starring Paul Bettany and Willem Dafoe

Brian B.Feb 27, 2004

Critics Score

40%

Release Date

August 6, 2003

Director

Paul McGuigan

Writers

Barry Unsworth
Mark Mills

Cast

Paul Bettany
Marián Aguilera
Trevor Steedman
Simon McBurney
Tom Hardy
Brian Cox

Official Website

paramountclassics.com

The Reckoning Synopsis

Set against the backdrop of 14th Century England, a time of war and banditry, when the Black Plague and political corruption ran rampant across the land. The Reckoning comes a labyrinthine medieval mystery that explores not only an ancient serial murder, but the power of entertainment to move people, the dangers of authoritarian societies and the human need for redemption – themes that remain vitally relevant today.

Nicholas (Paul Bettany), a handsome, young priest turned outlaw, is seen fleeing his cathedral after bringing shame upon himself by giving into passion and committing adultery. Discarding his cleric’s robes in the stream, he breaks with his past and attempts to leave his secrets behind.

He soon comes across a band of people sitting around a campfire, and he watches in horror as they appear to murder an old man. Attempting to run from the scene, Nicholas is knocked to the ground and awakens to see the face of the devil looming over him. But it is only a mask - a theatrical prop. His captors are not criminals, but a band of traveling actors, wearing costumes to keep warm.

The troupe includes the beautiful Sarah (Gina McKee) and her brother Martin (Willem Dafoe), the group’s charismatic and opinionated leader, a designated Master Player. Martin soon explains that the dead man was his father, Brendan, who was dying from cancer and begged to be released from his agony. In seeing the death for what it really was, Nicholas quickly learns that all is never quite what it seems with this group of performers.

As the actors get ready to leave Nicholas behind, on impulse, he pleads with them to take him on as a fledgling actor. Suspicious of his unconvincing story that he’s a laborer, and of his secretive demeanor, the troupe is split over whether to bring the stranger along, but Martin leads a vote that seals Nicholas’s fate. He has joined the troupe.

In the forest, the actors come upon a fallen bridge which forces them to head East along a road they have never taken before, which in turn leads them to a rough-and-tumble, walled town dominated by a soaring castle. There is something ominous about this place, which seems to exist under a dark cloud, and in the town square the actors find that a striking young woman, Martha (Elvira Minguez), is being sentenced to hang for the murder of a young boy, Thomas Wells. At the trial are the town’s most influential citizens, including Brother Simon Damian (Ewen Bremner), and above it all in the castle, the town’s powerful potentate Robert de Guise (Vincent Cassel).

Despite the unsettling nature of the town, Martin decides that the famished, exhausted actors must stop here and stage a play, if to only make a few shillings. They also decide to bury Brendan in the local church’s graveyard, which is so full in these times of plague and poverty, they have no choice but to place him in the same grave that has already been dug for the murdered Thomas Wells. Nicholas performs the burial service, revealing to all his priestly background, and confesses to his adultery, while appearing to keep another, far darker, secret suppressed.
As Nicholas and Martin’s friendship begins to grow, Martin takes the young cleric into his confidence, and tells him of his desire to create a brand new art form: plays based on life, on the real events that demand vital moral decisions, perhaps even on the story of the murdered boy in this town. Martin believes such plays would be much more compelling and meaningful to audiences, but Nicholas is shocked that Martin would consider telling a story that isn’t in the Bible. Soon Martin presents the idea to the whole group, after revealing that they will be stuck in the town another night due to a broken axle on their horse-wagon. The new play is put to a vote – only this time Nicholas has the swing vote and decides to support Martin’s ambitious plan.

Now Nicholas and Martin embark on a research mission at the local jail, where Martha is being kept in a grisly cell. Though she is deaf and dumb, they are able to coax from Martha passionate protestations that she is innocent. She even claims to know who committed the murder: Brother Simon Damian. Nicholas is aghast at the injustice of a clearly innocent woman facing her death, but Martin insists that in their play they will tell the story as the townsfolk know it, that Martha is a murderer who must pay for her sins. Nicholas begins to wonder if his new friend is more concerned about putting on a popular play than about telling the truth.

The players perform the story of Thomas Wells to a packed house. But in the audience is the boy’s mother, who protests at the suggestion that her son was lured off the road by Martha’s feminine wiles. Soon the whole audience begins to turn against the production, crying out that it isn’t true. Just as Lord de Guise’s men arrive to break up the disturbance, a voice from the crowd cries, “Give us the play of the other boys.” Before the man is swept away in the melee he tells Nicholas that Thomas Wells isn’t the only recent murder in the village. Four boys have disappeared without a trace in the last year.

Driven to find the truth and help Martha gain her freedom, Nicholas continues his clandestine investigation, despite the dangers. He returns to the church graveyard to dig up Thomas Wells’ grave, only to discover the boy had been sexually abused, almost certainly by a man. While there, he runs into the King’s Justice who tells him in no uncertain terms that it would be best if he and his friends leave town immediately. But Nicholas is even more curious now: why is the King’s Justice interested in a dead peasant boy?

The rest of the troupe is more than happy to leave this unwelcoming town, but Nicholas cannot turn his back on what they have started. Even as the others head down the road, he returns to town and continues his amateur sleuthing. He learns even more about Martha, finding out that she was a traditional healer, who may have been persecuted for working among the town’s most sickly and poor, and he uncovers more evidence that points in the direction of Brother Damian.

Confronting the Brother, Nicholas urges him to confess to his crimes. But what happens next reveals to Nicholas just how deep the secrets in this town are buried. Now, with Martha about to be executed, Nicholas battles against time and powers greater than he could ever imagine. His actor friends return and another impromptu play is performed. This time, however, the story is presented fearlessly, as it actually happened, and points the finger at the real culprit, Lord Robert De Guise. Whipping the crowd into a frenzy, the actors are chased from the stage by Lord De Guise’s soldiers . . . but an uprising among the people has already been sparked.

Taking refuge together in the church, Nicholas and Lord De Guise become locked in a final confrontation. As each man reveals the truth of his transgressions, and his hopes for the future, it is clear that the day of reckoning for both has arrived.