Festivals - Fantasia 2020 : The Reckoning will open the festival

By Mulder, 08 august 2020

The Reckoning is the opening film of the Fantasia International Film Festival.

British filmmaker Neil Marshall is an absolute master of physically intense narratives: The Descent, Dog soldiers, Doomsday, Centurion and his episodes of Game of Thrones, Black Sails, among others, demonstrate his distinctive talent. The Reckoning is a darker and more furious addition to his already hard-hitting filmography, following in the footsteps of provocative classics such as The Witchfinder general, Mark Of evil.

Marshall's singular ability to create visceral action scenes and his predilection for hard-boiled female protagonists are highlighted here. The fact that a period film dealing with misogynistic religious persecution in a plague-ravaged society where people are caught up in senseless conflicts with each other resonates so vividly with our current concerns only amplifies the anxiety-provoking aspect of the horrors on the screen, tragically. The Reckoning is a cannonball of rage and tears.

The Fantasia International Film Festival will launch its 24th edition as an exciting virtual event with live screenings, a library of programmes, panels and workshops from 20 August to 2 September 2020. The festival will be accessible across Canada, geotagged across the country, and will maintain a unique number of film admissions based on the film experience.

Synopsis:
England. 1665. The Great Plague has plunged the country into a vortex of fear, mistrust and death. Desperate and terrified, the population turns to superstition, and the Catholic Church cruelly takes advantage of the morbid opportunity it presents. The witch hunts begin. Grace Haverstock (the fantastic Charlotte Kirk) has just buried her husband, the most recent of the countless victims of this horrible disease. Now raising their child alone, she is watched suspiciously by her fellow citizens, to her dismay. When her landlord, Squire Pendleton (Steven Waddington) tries to force her to pay her debts in kind, she rejects him with well-deserved ferocity. In return, he accuses her of witchcraft, and Grace is sent to prison, where she is horribly interrogated by the most ruthless British witch-hunter (the excellent Sean Pertwee). But she is not alone, and her story will not end here. Not without a settling of scores.

The Reckoning (2020; Great Britain)
A Neil Marshall movie
Produced by Daniel-Konrad Cooper, Steffen Wild, Esther Turan
Based on a screenplay by Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk, Edward Evers-Swindell...
Starring Sean Pertwee, Steve Waddington, Charlotte Kirk, Joe Anderson
Cinematographer : Luke Bryant
Production: Fourth Culture Films
Distribution: Highland Film Distribution
Running time : 110mns

(Source : Fantasia, official website)