THE BLACK DEATH Movie Review

I’m a history nerd. I’m the worst kind too. I’m the kind of history buff that can’t help but pick out historical inaccuracies when I see them on film. “That armour wasn’t invented for another hundred years.” Is one of the many things I usually say when it comes to historical movies. So when I got ready to watch Christopher Smith’s historical horror “The Black Death” I braced myself for disappointment and historical anguish.

The movie takes place in England, 1348, and Europe is in the process of having one third of its population wiped out. The Plague, also known as the Black Death has spread into the heart of England and has taken its toll on the people. The movie follows a young monk by the name of Osmund (Eddie Redmayne) as he journeys with Ulric (Sean Bean) and his convoy to hunt and capture a Necromancer that is rumoured to be hiding in a remote village of England.

I found myself completely immersed in the movie. Christopher’s directing was on the ball when it came to creating the very bleak and dreary atmosphere that one would picture when it comes to England during the Black Death. I would go so far as to say that this is the best movie I’ve seen to capture what it must have been like for those living during Europe’s worst epidemic in history. This bleak atmosphere is created out of endless religious paranoia and fear of the Black Death and is shown through the callous killings of Ulric and his team as they hunt for their Necromancer.

Although the movie follows Eddie Redmayne’s character, Osmund (Bean) completely steals the movie. Sean Bean does a magnificent job of portraying Ulric, a zealous knight who is clearly losing his grip on sanity due to the horrific choices he is forced to make in light of the Black Death. Bean only gets better as the movie progresses with Ulric facing more and more choices that show no winning outcome, thus tearing at Ulric’s sense of justice and faith.

For a movie that was released straight to DVD, I found myself clinging onto every bleak, wet, marshy, dark second of the movie. I wouldn’t say it is a must buy, but it is most certainly a must watch.

Tags: the black death