Movie Review: The Reckoning

 

(This review contains spoilers)

The Reckoning is a 2020 film directed by Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent) and co-written by Marshall and his leading lady/partner, Charlotte Kirk, along with Edward Evers-Swindell, upon whose original story, entitled Red Hex, the screenplay was based. It tells the story of Grace (Kirk), a young widow who is left to care for her infant daughter and a meager farm in late 17th Century England after her husband Joseph hangs himself to avoid suffering a lingering and painful death from the Bubonic Plague, which is running rampant in the country, with many seeing this miserable sickness as a sign of the end of days. Shortly after Grace buries her husband's corpse, Squire Pendleton, her rather unscrupulous landlord, comes calling, offering empty platitudes one moment then barking for the month's rent the next. What awfulness occurs next is just one of a series of moments that make up a movie about the cruelties of institutionalized misogyny and how a system stacked against a certain class or gender can never truly be fair, leading only to horror, humiliation, and violence.

That's what The Reckoning is trying very hard to be, at least, although the film rarely ever feels like a worthwhile exploration of any of these themes, instead coming across as a tepid, shallow affair with very little to offer aside from some admittedly beautiful, if inconsistent cinematography, and a vague sense of justice being served at its conclusion, despite none of the story's characters ever feeling like anything more than cardboard cut-outs at best, and truly laughable caricatures at worst. Grace is played stiffly by Charlotte Kirk, who, despite her character suffering a number of physically and emotionally degrading tortures in the second half of the movie at the hand of the zealous witchfinder (Sean Pertwee, trying really hard to emote behind some atrocious artificial facial hair) who also happened to condemn her own mother to execution many years prior, she never appears to be suffering any ill effects from her treatment, looking as hale and healthy at the film's climax as she did at the beginning of the narrative. Clean teeth, clear complexion, and not even any visible scars on her back from a violent public flogging that only occurred a few days earlier. And this only applies to Kirk, since there are plenty of other actors in The Reckoning who look more appropriately grimy considering the circumstances of their lives. No matter what manner of hell her character endures, Charlotte Kirk always looks like a model from a cheesy romance novel cover, with perfect hair and makeup, even after days spent sleeping in a literal dungeon, with precious little sleep, food or water. It's ridiculous.

There's no bravery to this performance, despite what Kirk or Marshall may believe. This feels like a vanity project in service to a lead actor who was either unwilling or unable to commit to the role, to illustrate the character's physical or mental deterioration and suffering as she is tormented by a self-righteous sadist who claims to be acting on behalf of Almighty God. As such, Kirk's acting never feels any more than half-hearted, and no great empathy for the character develops, at least not to this viewer's mind. There's empathy for Grace's plight in a general sense, because this kind of persecution was all too real, as the film's opening and closing text so helpfully reminds us, but the character of Grace is such a blank slate played by an actor who cannot seem to endow her performance with any inner life that there's just no spark behind her eyes, and in the end the film left this viewer feeling cold despite the righteous conflagration that marked the climax.

But it's not just Charlotte Kirk's performance that drags the film down, since there's more than enough blame to go around. There's a scene that takes place in a local tavern, for instance, after Squire Pendleton's untoward advances to Grace are violently rebuffed, where he "very subtly" plants the seeds of doubt in the minds of the gathered patrons that his recently-widowed tenant may, in fact, be a witch. He basically just says that he thinks Grace is consorting with evil, then everybody else starts talking about how they also think Grace is consorting with evil in a series of quick cuts to wide-eyed fools gasping with the melodramatic realization that the Squire may be onto something, despite him offering no evidence of any kind other than his questionable word that something fishy is going on with this widow. This scene is ham-fistedly attempting to convey how quickly one idle rumor can spiral out of control, and no matter how flippant the accusation, the stakes involved are life and death. But the film presents this scene as something laughably overwrought and unable to take seriously, and I highly doubt that was director Marshall's intent. 

Nevertheless, the rumor takes root and Grace is captured and imprisoned, awaiting the arrival of the witchfinder, her infant daughter taken by the Squire, a cruel pustule of a villain played dully by veteran character actor Steven Waddington, who almost appears to be sleepwalking through his role, it offers so little to hold onto. Once imprisoned, Grace finds herself tormented by visions of Lucifer having his way with her in a similar way to how her jailers and later, the witchfinder, will violate her body to coax a confession from her lips. Are these visions true, or just the product of an exhausted mind, the consequence of sleep deprivation and torture? Thankfully, the movie leaves this question unanswered, a note of refreshing ambiguity. The only truly interesting character, at least in theory, is introduced around this point in the story: the witchfinder's apprentice Ursula (Suzanne Magowan), a survivor of her master's cruel ministrations, left scarred and deformed after a miraculous rain shower extinguished her execution pyre. Believing herself to be spared by the grace of God, Ursula has devoted herself fully to the witchfinder's cause, honing deadly skills to defend her master at any cost. 

Ultimately, Ursula is a tragic figure, representing internalized misogyny as she works to further the atrocities committed by her pious master in the name of a God that does not care for such things as mercy or compassion. A story that focused on such a character, following her as she struggled internally with her actions and her devotion to a cause that some part of her believed to be wrong, bade to inflict horrors upon other innocent women who were forced into similar situations through terrible circumstance and seeing how these actions wound her soul, would be a worthwhile one indeed, although I certainly wouldn't trust Neil Marshall to tell that kind of story. Here, Ursula is given the merest hint of a character and not a whit of nuance, and like every other performer in this movie, Suzanne Magowan's role has nothing substantial on the page, and as a result she founders on screen. It's the script that consistently lets this movie down, providing the cast with no true characters to portray. They're all archetypes at best, just stand-ins for better characters that more accomplished or talented screenwriters could have fleshed out if the opportunity had been provided, but alas, we were left with Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk. 

I will grant the film a few positive notes, however. For one, the story did not revel in any prolonged sequences of torture at the hands of the witchfinder (if that's what you're looking for, may I recommend 1970's notorious Mark Of The Devil?), which was greatly appreciated, although perhaps the results of said torture could have been more evident on Grace's person following each session, as even after the particularly gruesome introduction of a Pear Of Anguish (which likely was never even used during the period, but if you'd like to read about that, you may do so here), which, if used correctly, would likely have caused sufficient hemorrhaging to kill Grace, she only needs to be helped back to her cell by a friendly jailer's apprentice, and she's fully recovered by the next morning. This strains credibility to the breaking point.

But more importantly, The Reckoning does, in fact, provide a real reckoning for the vile men who perpetuate all this senseless and institutionalized violence toward women, and much to my relief, it occurs without supernatural intervention. I was worried in the early going that Grace's visions of Lucifer in her cell would prove to be true visitations from evil, and that in order to get her vengeance on the system that has victimized her she would sell her soul for the power to claim it, but the movie shows great restraint and allows Grace to defeat these rotten men, save her infant daughter, and literally burn down (a representation of) the system that has destroyed so many innocent women's lives with only her own cunning and iron will, which was much appreciated. If the film had gone the supernatural route, it would only have served to trivialize the very real suffering and misery that so many women had endured throughout the centuries by these so-called "men of God" as they searched for imaginary witches behind every door in every small village throughout Europe and North America. But really, this was the least that Neil Marshall and Charlotte Kirk could have done. 

The Reckoning wants to present a serious struggle with our culture's violent and wretched past, providing a cathartic conclusion that sees an unbroken woman standing tall as her oppressors are laid low before her, and I applaud the film for that attempt. Unfortunately, the many steps that lead to that righteous conclusion are fraught with mediocrity, and as such the film just keeps falling short. What a shame, since this story is filled with so much potential. An unflinching feminist take on similar material would be a worthwhile thing in this world, but alas, The Reckoning misses that mark almost entirely. Call it a missed opportunity.

Blessings, Archbishop Mack   <--- Email!

(The Reckoning is available on demand, on Blu-Ray, and is streaming on SHUDDER)

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