Trust in me. Hope. Hope in him. A priest who was banished after getting caught having sex with a married woman joins a traveling play. The play arrives in a town where a murder was recently executed and an unlikely woman suspect has been arrested and assigned to be hanged. The play group reenacts the murder in their play in hopes of uncovering clues and those responsible for the killing. "Man's nature is corrupt." Paul McGuigan, director of Wicker Park, Lucky Number Sleven, Push, The Acid House, and episodes from the television series Sherlock, Scandal, and Monroe, delivers The Reckoning. The storyline for this picture is above average but the execution is just okay. The acting is better than average and the cast includes Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, Brian Cox, Tom Hardy, Vincent Cassel, Ewen Bremner, and Richard Durden. "You gave her hope." I came across this on Netflix while reviewing Tom Hardy pictures. This was interesting and fun to watch unfold but is more of a lazy Sunday afternoon movie than a must see. I only recommend seeing this if nothing better is on, but it is worth viewing once. "We're actors not judges." Grade: C

The worst kind of anachronism, this movie tries to condemn child abuse in a medieval setting, a society that arguably didn't even recognize that crime.

Paul McGuigan, el director de la poderosa "Gangster No. 1" repite con Paul Bettany, esta vez en una historia ubicada en la Inglaterra de la Edad Media. Bettany interpreta a un sacerdote que comete adulterio y decide refugiarse con un grupo de actores intinerantes liderados por Martin (Willem Dafoe). Al llegar a un pueblo descubren un misterio relacionado con la violenta muerte de un niño que hace de "The Reckoning" una maravillosa historia didáctica como también una atmosférica historia de suspenso.

Paul McGuigan, el director de la poderosa "Gangster No. 1" repite con Paul Bettany, esta vez en una historia ubicada en la Inglaterra de la Edad Media. Bettany interpreta a un sacerdote que comete adulterio y decide refugiarse con un grupo de actores intinerantes liderados por Martin (Willem Dafoe). Al llegar a un pueblo descubren un misterio relacionado con la violenta muerte de un niño que hace de "The Reckoning" una maravillosa historia didáctica como también una atmosférica historia de suspenso.

Very good. Didn't give too much away, but gives enough. The story is pretty dark, but it's incredibly well done.

great Medieval film about the world of the Morality Plays!

The best film you've probably never heard of about a Medieval troupe of traveling actors...and a priest on the run from his past played excellently by Paul Bettany...well worth watching!

The Reckoning is a powerful film about the nature of truth and justice set in the Middle Ages, with a gripping script and an excellent cast. It was a nice change from medieval films that are all about battles and fighting. Some of the critics compared it to The Name of the Rose, also an excellent film about the Middle Ages and a series of murders, but there are the only similarities. Each is a brilliant and intriguing movie in it's own right.

2 stars just for the great cast and superb acting! story was lame!

Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, Tom Hardy, Brian Cox, Vincent Cassel, Simon Pegg, Matthew Macfadyen, Ewen Bremner.... None of whom stop this being completely and unbearably terrible.

Tediously slow movie that feels every inch an adapted play as it shows little imagination in locations while being wordy when visual would have conveyed the meaning just as well. Defoe tries his best to fill the space but faced with the stagnant void that defines Bettany's style of acting the whole thing moves at a snails pace. If the first hour could be condensed into 20minutes the movie would have worked a lot better as the 4th act actually delivers something but it's too long a journey to be satisfying.

He's just so damn dramatic.

The Reckoning has a great cast that do a wonderful job in carrying a story that has the material to become something more, but lacks the proper execution. Consumed with sin, mystery and higher-righteousness, this is not a complicated movie to follow, and can be to a point quite riveting. However, it is unable to create a believable scene and has too many bizarre moments to be taken too seriously. The reckoning is a film one wants to like, but struggles to find real reason.

This turned out to be a pretty decent murder mystery, set in 14th century England with a priest on the run as the sleuth. A solid cast, with Willem Dafoe, Paul Bettany, and Brian Cox the most recognizable names, carried off their parts well. Dreary scenery, but this is the middle ages, so what is there to expect? The story is pretty straight forward and there are few surprises, but it was nice to watch it unfold.

Interesting but nothing to write home about. Doesn't go deep enough or no real big climax. Worth a watch.

I really disliked this movie. I liked the cast, but the movie was terrible.

The 'true story' play was really well done. But a lot of the rest wasn't great.

Great movie. Expected nothing less.

A monk on the run from breaking his vows of chastity joins a traveling performing troupe, and together the group uses their acting abilities to unmask a serial murderer in medieval times. A great cast and an interesting plot make this an atypical movie set in historical times.

Started out interesting enough, but the ending was very unsatisfactory. When the film seemed like a disturbing and complex story of a priest's redemption, it ended on a very rushed, sour note. Bettany could have done better. Skip it.