 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2020 film the reckoning It's a shutter exclusive and it's coming shutter on Thursday, May 13th So yeah, when I first heard the title of this film before I got my screener from shutter I was like, oh no, it's gonna be another one of these paranormal ghost haunting Possession one of those types of things and I because that's usually what's something like the reckoning means Thankfully it really wasn't and I was very very very thankful for that I'm not saying that I completely love the film. There's some good and some bad with this film But overall I would say I can see some people really enjoying this But I'm about to break down for you without spoilers the good and the bad of this film No spoilers because it's this reviews coming out before it hits shutter and because it's a new film That's gonna be going to shutter. So this one's directed by Neil Marshall That's one of the other things that perked me up when I started doing my pre-research For watching it Neil Marshall who's done dog soldiers and the descent Which two very good films? I don't own dog dog soldiers, but back here somewhere I do have the descent which I made my wife watch in the theater and she was like terrified So she remembers the descent. I brought it up to her. I was like, oh, do you remember the descent? She's like, yes, I remember the descent Anyway, he also did doomsday Centurion and the 2019 hellboy film. So because it's Neil Marshall it looks good and and Marshall wrote it along with Charlotte Kirk and Edward ever Swindell who Charlotte Kirk had not done anything else, but ever Swindell had done dark signal, which I have not seen don't know about it, but And like I said to reiterate coming Thursday May 13th now the quick synopsis of this is that it's set It's a period piece. So you have to be okay with horror period pieces So some people may just love it for the fact that it is a horror period piece because I know some people who just love watching period pieces regardless now it takes place during the black plague and the whole idea behind it is a woman who ends up losing her husband who gets accused of witchcraft and That's where I'm gonna leave it. So the backdrop is important The events are important. Now. This is something that's that's come up in films more recently and there's kind of like I was gonna say a subtext to it, but it's really not subtext. They do kind of like beat you over the head with it That's very applicable to now, but I'll talk a little bit more about that in a minute But like I said the film looks really good That's the establishing thing looks really good nice camera work nice cinematography nice directing for the most part The acting is quite nice as well. I Do have some problems though. I'm gonna talk about them Those like I said period piece know this it's period piece They talk differently because of that there are accents because of that So some people may not like that. I'm fine with it It's really bleak And it sets this very bleak tone very early on so when I was watching it initially I was like wow, this is just really depressing and dark like right out of the gate and It doesn't really turn around much for a long time in the film It's it's a lot of dark depressing type stuff But I felt like it was gonna keep going much further and really take you down a really dark depressing path but it doesn't like it kind of Stays where it starts in a sense But moves the story forward Unfortunately at a slow pace. I will say that's one of my biggest issues. The music is over the top in this That's one of my big problems just in general like Over dramatization is kind of a problem in this film for me personally some people are totally cool with that It's a big score. There's a big score for this film and Along with that big score It's math matched with some big cinematography Big big exaggerated camera movements and some big exaggerated performances at times too So there are times where I felt like From a filmmaking standpoint I was being screamed at by Neil Marshall and I was just like I get it like I know what you're doing here Please please calm down. Please calm down. So that's one of my biggest problems is the over dramatization of a lot of stuff I feel like I like it better with stories like this where you kind of just play it Way more restrained because then it's more of a kind of like lower level unsettling as opposed to this High-level dread that they're trying to do that just kind of becomes a little ridiculous because I because of the over dramatization personally There are some moments of camera work. That's a little bit too shaky. This is something that bothers me But it didn't maintain it was a little bit in the beginning of the film in a few scenes and then either I got used to it And it wasn't that big of a deal or it stopped. So just so you know There are some really good performances in this like I said the acting is good for the most part But there are some very satisfying performances in this and I would just say kudos to the actors in general They did a nice job There's an important scene about 30 minutes in that comes off as a bit ridiculous Because they're too forward in telling you what's going on. This goes with the over dramatization problem where in the scene they're getting to what the what is happening like this important thing and then they like Literally in dialogue tell you Which I hate that type of thing this goes back to the whole writing thing with scripts and with books of Show don't tell, you know, don't explicitly tell someone with dialogue or with your words What is going on show it show people what's going on and they'll get it and I got it like and Everyone in the audience will get what's going on and where they're headed with this particular scene But then just at towards the end of the scene They just like say it and you're just like okay Nobody needed that not a single person needed that and it came off as just being stupid and ridiculous In my opinion, so then I thought is this supposed to be funny? Because it feels like they're gonna go down like a route of making it intentionally funny or ridiculous I don't know, but that didn't happen. So it was just a bad moment in the film that I did not appreciate There's a great outfit that briefly gets used in this film from the time now I'm not gonna say what it is to leave it as a surprise But some people may be able to figure out what that is. It's a favorite outfit of mine from the time Between the music camera work and acting it feels pretty over the top overall I wish they would have toned it down a bunch. It would have been more unsettling already talked about that basically There is one character that is particularly intriguing in this film And that's because this type of character has never been in a film like this before at least that I've seen So that is one aspect of this that was very new to me that really did perk my in our peak Interest in the film because I was like who is this character? This is a very new character for me, and I'd love to see where this character goes That said I think they could have done a lot more with that character That character ends up having a decent role in the film and I was good with it But I think that character could have been used a lot more and should have been used a lot more Because that was the interesting thing that was the particularly different aspect of what was going on here and I just felt like they should have gone down that road a little bit more Just my opinion There's one. Oh, I literally just read that my goodness. I'm tired There's a good gore scene that I quite enjoyed in this film and it was also kind of a cathartic moment So I guarantee a lot of audience members are gonna feel the same thing It's always a nice payoff when you're just like ah a nice gore scene And it's this cathartic like someone's getting it type feel I do have to give credit to having for having plenty of low light and dark scenes in this film and you never have a Difficult time seeing what's going on that is a big thing for me So from a visual standpoint, they did a great job with their lighting on this and their cinematography Because there are so many films I watch where it's either scenes that are lowly lit or in the dark And I can't see what's going on or there are particular things I want to make sure I'm seeing but I can't Len I have to like put my face on the screen basically But I didn't I mean lots of low lit and dark scenes in this No problem. No problem seeing anything. So tech from a technical standpoint. They really killed it There is a pretty good kind of uh-oh moment toward the end of the film like very close to the end of the film That I quite enjoyed that they threw in there where as an audience member you are kind of like uh-oh So it that kind of told me that the story pulled me in enough and that and that's good Because I was actually reacting to what's going on. So it it can immerse you in what's going on Solid ending but the path to get there was too long and not engaging enough in my opinion at least to you know To to have you feel like it's not too long Like it wasn't engaging enough for you to feel like the time was going by much faster It's I mean it's close to a two-hour film like it's an hour and 50 some minutes with credits and For what the material is and for where the story goes. It's way too much time for what it is It really did need to be edited down a bunch in order to keep the pacing good because there are pacing issues because of that And it just feels long it just feels long and there are plenty of times where you're just like are we going somewhere or what here? Just saying They use historical events to relate to current societal issues Showing that even though times and circumstances have changed the underlying issues and motivations are still with us at the moment so the point of why they're doing this type of story and The subtext because it's very in your face and not really subtext It's good. It like it plays well. It makes sense But I just once again like all the overdramatization We say we would have kind of pulled it back a little bit made it a little bit more subtext But still a good parallel in my opinion so overall I'd like the film enough But there were a bunch of issues for me So I feel like out of five stars. I got to just give it two and a half stars. So That's how I feel about it now if you've seen the film and you're watching this or you're going to go ahead When you're done watching it put some comments down here spoilers are fine. Go ahead spoilers in the comments We'll talk about it. I'd love to hear people's opinions on this one because I have a feeling they're gonna I mean like all films they're gonna be people love it people hate it people are in the middle and they're like So we'll see but do me a quick favor hit that subscribe button because that is your way to repay me for doing this Video or any video that you've ever enjoyed on my channel and hopefully you've enjoyed at least one so yeah, so pay me back with that and Also hit the notification bell button because that way you'll know when I'm putting up new kind of no spoiler videos review videos like this or that my more in-depth analysis Spoiler filled review videos or haul videos or any it any of that type of stuff But regardless I do thank you for taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it