The Reckoning

The Reckoning, also known as Morality Play (and as El misterio de Wells in Spain), is a 2004 British-Spanish murder mystery drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Tom Hardy, Gina McKee, Brian Cox and Vincent Cassel. It was written by Mark Mills and based on the 1995 novel Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Filming was done on location in Spain, Wales, and England. The story, which is set during the medieval period in England, alludes to the evolution of the theatre arts from what was strictly Biblical morality plays in the period to dramas based on real or extra-Biblical fictional subjects. Plot In 1380, in England, the priest Nicholas (Bettany) flees his village when found in flagrante delicto with a married woman. During flight, he witnesses a group euthanise a member to give him relief from his long-recurring internal pain. He becomes known to the group and is captured. The group is a travelling acting troupe who think he is a robber, and they explain the killing. Reluctantly, they allow him to join their troupe to replace the deceased member. On their journey to the next town, they are forced to travel to a new district after a collapsed bridge stops them taking their normal route, and to mend the cart that carries their goods, although they have no money. The troupe reach a strange town, with its castle under reconstruction, and find a woman being sentenced to death for killing a boy, upon the testimony of Benedictine Monk Simon Damian (Ewen Bremner). The troupe perform a Biblical passion play, but, as told by the group's leader Martin (Willem Dafoe), so few attend they are unable to bury the dead troupe member and fix their cart. Martin makes the decision to perform a new play based on the events surrounding the child-murder. He and Nicholas visit the mute, condemned woman in the dungeons, coming away with the strong belief she is innocent. The woman is portrayed as a seductress which infuriates the crowd and the parents of the dead boy, since he was virtuous and too physically strong to be overtaken by the woman. Plantagenet Lord de Guise (Vincent Cassel) watches from the castle and sends the sheriff to clear the square by force. Members of the crowd, on leaving the square, tell the troupe about more details of the death or disappearance of boys.