The Reckoning Review

October 1, 2020 at 8:30pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a neat in concept, yet poorly executed sort of film. It’s about the witch trials of a town during plague times. It dives into the idea of mass hysteria, and a horrible time where woman were being tortured into confessions in order to grant gain to others.

This one pushes heavily into the whole torture aspect of the situation, dragging and also feeling unrealistic. Despite some seriously horrific torture scenes the protagonist played by Charlotte Kirk ends up being shiny and clean throughout. On top of that, despite a really hardcore torturing moment is able to move swiftly and with aggression during the more action packed latter moments.

It’s kind of strange, and I suppose female empowering yet at the same time sort of silly if you think of the trauma she’s just experienced over prior days. Match that with being thrown into an awful decrepit dungeon that’s infested with rats, it’s just sort of odd and takes you out of things.

That aside, it’s an interesting look at the times with a very grotesque sort of style. It doesn’t hold back which is fine. The story itself is also rather interesting as a concept, though again perhaps not executed well. It keeps showcasing almost supernatural elements that don’t quite make sense or go anywhere. It’s rather slow in terms of pacing and takes forever to get to its point.

I think a highlight of this experience for me was in the presentation. The costume work is wonderful here, the whole witch hunting gear design was excellent. It was spooky, creepy and I wish more time had been spent on that.

It’s a great time piece, capturing the era well from a gritty perspective. I just wish she had a little bit of wear to her, the main character that is. She gets seriously messed up and comes up from the watering shining with a sort of heroic stance.

I thought in general that this was beautifully well shot. The cinematography here was gorgeous. From the well lit interiors, to the vast feeling outdoor sections. That was typically nailed throughout, painting a grim feeling to the landscape that the characters were dealing with.

The Conclusion

The Reckoning presented an interesting concept, but failed to execute it in a necessarily interesting way while still being an ok viewing. I had some real issues with this one, but for some it might be interesting. I wish they would have handled the main character better, considering the insane trauma.

A little more of a long term alteration would have been better, or even aside from long terms effects a deeper look at the psychological elements. It just makes certain moments throughout come across as supernatural, and that stuff is never properly explained.

It’s got some weird moments to it that don’t quite come together in an intriguing way. There was more potential for this one, though it still does work. It’s shot well, looks grim and mostly has some deep pacing issues that plague it like the disease did to those at that time.

The Reckoning Review at Home with Streamed Viewing during Calgary Film Festival
Screening Provided by Calgary Film

Rating Overall: 5.5