The Reckoning (2021)

The Reckoning is horror with a bruised, historical conscience: a witch-hunt tale that uses 1665 England’s plague-soaked paranoia to fuel something angrier and more intimate than jump-scare theatrics. Neil Marshall stages the period grime and candlelit dread with muscular confidence, and Charlotte Kirk gives Grace a stubborn, human spine that keeps the film grounded even as the nightmare turns increasingly psychological. The vibe is relentlessly oppressive—part courtroom injustice, part dungeon horror, part fever dream—building a sense of doom that feels earned rather than cheap. Fair warning, it’s not for everyone: the violence and sexual threat are harsh and explicit, but if you can stomach that intensity, the movie delivers a fierce, cathartic fight against cruelty and fear.

The Reckoning is clearly aiming for a furious, plague-era feminist revenge-horror about a woman crushed by superstition, power, and sexual violence, and on paper that should hit hard. The problem is it often feels less like a critique of misogyny than an endurance test of it, lingering on torture and humiliation in ways that can come off exploitative rather than illuminating. The pacing drags and the tone wobbles between grim historical drama and demonic nightmare without ever making the blend feel earned, so the emotional impact gets blunted. If you’re looking for smart, cathartic witch-hunt horror, this may leave you cold—but if you can stomach extreme violence and want bleak atmosphere with committed lead work from Charlotte Kirk, you might find something to latch onto.