“Did somebody say, witch?” Neil Marshall, director of horror classic The Descent (2005) has his new film, The Reckoning (2020), releasing February 5th, 2021. The Reckoning is a period piece both dark in coloring and content as it details horrors of the mob mentality that plagued witch trials. It’s often intense in its action and detailed in its practical and special effects, all of which created a murky and gritty dark ages atmosphere that was eerie but impossible to resist immersing myself into.

In a countryside besieged by the Great Plague circa 1665, the townspeople find their anxieties about looming death are alleviated by redirecting their hysteria towards witchcraft. Countless women have been accused, adding to the already mounting plague deaths. A young couple–Joseph (Joe Anderson) and Grace (Charlotte Kirk)–find themselves with a newborn baby amongst the dead, and to before you know it Grace is being accused of being a witch. Grace refuses to give into the religious or sexual subjugation placed before her and instead fights her way out of physical and societal prison.

Having a director who worked on Game of Thrones at its helm, it is no surprise that The Reckoning has high production and design quality for creating its dark ages setting. I feel that these tales of witchcraft done as period pieces of the medieval times are the best to display the power in femininity overcoming unchecked patriarchy, and also, in the absence of modernity or science, medieval times seem to be the proper setting for the mystique of witchcraft. The Reckoning is exactly one of these films, crafting an intricate story around one strong and endearing heroine portrayed in an endearing, though sometimes rather subdued, performance from Charlotte Kirk. I do wish that Kirk had gone even further, at times, in depicting the suffering–since the film’s story writers saw fit to put her strong and heroic character through such torturous instances the facial expressions should be meeting the agonizing moments.

Though there was quite a bit of torture, thankfully The Reckoning wasn’t mindless torture porn and doesn’t have anywhere near the level of gore as something like Hostel (2005). The Reckoning was somewhat similar in sentiment and setting to my beloved The VVitch (2015), only not as mellow and quiet. It perhaps better portrayed that fearful kind of horror, having effective jump scares that were both well-timed and had actually scary special effects and makeup to create our heroine’s illusions. There were quite a lot of jump scares though and it may be overkill for some, however, I feel it created a pacing for the film that kept the story rather enthralling, which a story like this (that has been done before) needed.

The Reckoning utilizes ghosts and haunts, witchcraft and devilry, and viral plagues to make a thrilling plot centered around a female lead. The subplot of the plague is perhaps unnecessary when there is already witchcraft and hauntings doing much of the legwork for creating horror, but the under-utilization of this plot point can likely be chalked up to some wayward covid virus anxieties creeping into the writing process, or the producers wanting to capitalize on the current plague by adding this layer to the story. It doesn’t distract or take away from the story, more just seemed like an afterthought, and otherwise, The Reckoning did feel like a solid movie with a good plot and great attention to special effects. Somehow, though, I feel this film is missing something that would make it seem original from the aforementioned wrongly accused woman/femme-revenge period piece films (see Judy & Punch, The VVitch, etc.).

 

7.5 out of 10

 

The Reckoning
RATING: NR
The Reckoning - OFFICIAL TRAILER
Runtime: 1 Hr. 50 Mins.
Directed By:
Written By: Edward Evers-Swindell, Charlotte Kirk, & Neil Marshall

 

About the Author

Adrienne Reese is a fan of movies - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and came to the horror genre by way of getting over her fear of... everything. Adrienne also writes for the Frida Cinema, and in addition to film enjoys cooking, Minesweeper, and binge-watching Game of Thrones.