It’s a tough time to be a Game of Thrones fan. Not only has the original hit HBO fantasy series ended, but its prequel follow-up, House of the Dragon, is currently in the midst of prepping a third season. That said, while fans of George R.R. Martin’s beloved world-building may need to wait a little while longer to bask in the fire and blood of the Targaryens’ perpetually troubled dynasty, those looking to relive the nostalgia of the series’ original cast are in for a treat this April Fools’. Black Death, the 2010 horror action film directed by Christopher Smith, is set to drop on Max on April 1, and it includes not one but two former stars from Westeros.
Set at the height of the bubonic plague as it ravages medieval Europe during the fourteenth century, Black Death combines the horrors of its devastating times with the action of a harrowing plot that pits holy soldiers against accused heretics, resulting in a bitter mix of bodies and sacrilegious bloodshed. Released a year before Game of Thrones originally aired, Sean Bean nevertheless remains the spitting image of Ned Stark as he dons his armor as Ulric, an envoy to a local bishop tasked with uncovering evidence of witchcraft in a village untouched by the plague. Likewise, Melisandre herself, Carice van Houten, plays a very different kind of sorceress as Langiva, the leader of the village Ulric seeks and someone who soon proves to be more than she appears.
What Is ‘Black Death’ About?

The main storyline of Smith’s film actually revolves around Osmund—a novice monk at a local monastery played by a young Eddie Redmayne. Torn between his service to God and his illicit affair with a girl he grew up with in the Dentwich Forest, Averill (Kimberley Nixon), Osmund sends Averill back to the woods when the plague finally reaches the monastery. Seeking a sign to tell him what he should do, Osmund subsequently finds this sign in Ulric’s arrival, agreeing to guide him through Dentwich and meet Averill at the same time. When it is revealed that Ulric’s purpose is far darker than he first admitted, however, Osmund soon finds himself traveling through Hell on Earth in this brutal historical horror movie.
Aside from its solid core cast, what really makes Black Death is the film’s morbid cinematography, memorable writing, and unsettling themes. As the title suggests, death surrounds Ulric and Osmund’s journey, treating the viewer to entire villages devastated by the plague and mass graves made even more haunting by the doctors drifting through the film’s dim lighting in plague masks. Black Death’s script initially searches for the meaning behind this desolation in religion, but it goes past the idea that God is punishing his sinning children when one of Ulric’s men, Wolfstan (John Lynch), recalls one of his past battles and theorizes the disease is punishment for a breakdown in human civility. Here, the film stretches its genre and aspires to be a captivating war film in the vein of Apocalypse Now, supplementing Black Death’s gripping performances with a brief exploration into the depths of human nature.
Sean Bean and Carice Van Houten Bring a Soldier and a Sorceress To Bitter Life in ‘Black Death’

Smith’s film doesn’t dwell on its existentialism for long, however, and both Bean and van Houten’s characters represent the more entertaining, more outlandish moments in the film. In many ways, both actors’ roles are remarkably similar to the characters both performers portray in Westeros. Bean imbues Ulric with the same gruff, resolute attitudes of a soldier that he applies to both Ned Stark and Boromir in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, while van Houten portrays Langiva with the same disarming charm and unscrupulous cleverness one would expect from the Stormlands’ Red Priestess. As a result, it’s impossible to watch both actors’ performances in this feudal wasteland without feeling even the slightest tug of nostalgia for the golden days of Game of Thrones, but Black Death still offers plenty of excitement to tide audiences over.
Between fending off thieves in the Dentwich Forest and eventually coming to blows with the residents of Langiva’s village, Ulric gives Smith’s film the majority of its action, whereas Langiva lends Black Death a thrilling dose of supernatural magic. Suspected of being a witch, necromancer, and heretic by Ulric’s party for her part in protecting the village from harm, Langiva remains a mysterious highlight of the film for the majority of its runtime—a healer whose sly smiles and sneaking around always keep her under suspicion of some occult craft. When Osmund is subsequently exposed to one of Langiva’s rituals in the woods, the differences between van Houten and Bean’s characters then come to a head, placing both at the center of Black Death’s central conflict.
‘Black Death’ Is a Thought-Provoking Exploration of Cycles of Faith-Based Violence WhileBlack Death offers horror fans plenty of disturbing visuals, gore, and believable characters, the most intriguing aspect of the film isits unique depiction of the conflict between reason and superstition. At first, the film resemblesyour run-of-the-mill depiction of religious hypocrisy, with Ulric’s mission and desire to heartlessly slaughter witches without rational explanation feeling like the typical set-upfor a critique of human paranoiaduring times of plague. Upon reaching Langiva’s village, however,Black Death abandons this more straightforward moral argument and insteadforces the viewer to confront humanity’s desire for violence from multiple perspectives. While the truth behind Langiva’s mysterious powers is something viewers will have to witness for themselves, Smith’s folk horror nevertheless represents a fascinating challenge to Christian dominance during the Middle Ages in a way that’s left open even until the film’s end.

Similarly, Black Death doesn’t fully assign blame to either side of the conflict that unfolds between Langiva and Ulric. Whether Langiva’s attacks against Christian envoys were a justified response to the bishop’s invasion of her village or whether Ulric had every right to sentence a heretic to death isn’t an argument Black Death really entertains. What the film does embody is the consequence of both characters’ actions—continued violence in the name of self-righteous faith. Osmund in particular suffers most from the movie’s brutal ending, and his transformation after he is finally reunited with Averill is one that will stay with you long after Black Death has ended.

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Black Death’s unwillingness to take a definitive stance on its central conflict does bog down the film’s pacing in a way that inevitably led to general audience complaints upon release, and Smith’s film could benefit from an increased narrative focus on the lives of women in a world that does nothing but terrorize them. However, there’s a reason Black Death remains in good critical standing, and the film’s deep commentary and weary atmosphere should more than recommend it to anyone looking to see whether Sean Bean can survive a different kind of harrowing journey. What’s more, with plenty of chilling gore, medieval drama, and signs of the supernatural, Black Death is a natural choice to engage fans of all things feudal and fantasy this spring.

Black Death

Release Date

June 7, 2010

Runtime

100 minutes