The Reckoning: reviews

What the critics say average 3.8 from 56 outlets

• 9.0 Father Son Holy GoreC.H. Newell What’s so special to me is Marshall’s delivered a film about early modern history that speaks so directly to so many pressing issues we continue to face today as a global society. Read
• 8.0 The Hollywood NewsKat Hughes A welcome return to the horror fold, Neil Marshall once more proves himself to be a talented and articulate filmmaker. Read
• 7.5 Vague VisagesJoey Keogh Kirk turns The Reckoning into a rallying cry for women everywhere to refuse to bend to the will of men, which might be the most surprising thing about this fantastically gruesome and highly entertaining horror movie. Read
• 7.5 Assignment XAbbie Bernstein As for where all this is going, well, the film is called The Reckoning. Those who can make it through the second act will certainly be up for the third. Read
• 7.5 The Only CriticNate Adams “The Reckoning” plays into his strengths, and provides an excellent vehicle for Kirk - who is also Marshall’s partner - to tackle this grim narrative around the imprisonment of innocent woman. Read
• 6.0 Dread CentralDrew Tinnin It seems fitting that the English director would now be tackling the witch craze in The Reckoning, a mostly misunderstood film filled with striking images of prying demons and over-the-top abuse from heartless clergymen. It’s a tough watch but for any true fans of this period and witchcraft, this disc is probably worth picking up. Read
• 6.0 North Shore MoviesDaniel M. Kimmel For those willing to take a chance outside their comfort zone, it turns out to be a surprisingly effective story. Read
• 6.0 The Hollywood OutsiderAaron Peterson If you are looking for a tightly-paced thriller with enough truth to prompt a bit of historical research and engaging leads to keep you invested, The Reckoning is wicked fun. Read
• 6.0 Movies in FocusNiall Browne You might think that this latest film from the Dog Soldiers and The Descent director is a supernatural revenge movie - and while it does feature those elements, it's much more of a dramatic thriller about righting the wrongs of men against women. Read
• 6.0 AIPTNathaniel Muir Kirk exudes confidence and makes a great heroine. Her fortitude is shown during The Reckoning’s numerous torture scenes. Read
• 6.0 Bloody DisgustingJoe Lipsett The film looks good and is shot well, particularly for audiences with an affinity for torture. Alas, the central conflict between witch finder and accused witch proves too safe and repetitive to be truly memorable. Read
• 5.8 The Film StageJared Mobarak For all its familiarity, however, you can’t deny its visual panache via immersive cinematography and production design. That it never embraces the supernatural element it teases is disappointing, but far from a dealbreaker. Read
• 5.0 Flickering MythChris Ward It may seem odd to praise a movie as messy as The Reckoning is in places but despite all of its faults it does somehow scratch that particular itch for an occult horror movie that delivers in the old-school way Read
• 5.0 Nightmarish ConjuringsDolores Quintana Overall, I don't think it's a terrible movie, but I don't think it's a great one either. Read
• 4.4 Bryant Frazer's Deep FocusBryant Frazer Imagine a downbeat cross between historical romance, rape-revenge thriller and what's become known as folk horror and you'll have a pretty good idea of the overall mood. Read
• 4.2 ConsequenceRyan Larson Unfortunately, The Reckoning is the biggest whiff in Marshall’s filmography. At its best, it delivers moments of optic greatness (a lightning strike-illuminating barn scene stands out), but most of the film is bleak and droll, full of a muddled script and lackluster performances. Read
• 4.0 EmpireIan Freer Neil Marshall’s return to his homegrown horror wheelhouse doesn’t reach the heights of Dog Soldiers and The Descent. Instead, it’s a witch-hunt thriller that lacks the texture to be realistic and the no-holds-barred energy to be pulpy. Sean Pertwee has fun though. Read
• 4.0 The TelegraphTim Robey Despite a spirited score and a few other redeeming features, The Reckoning is too clumsy, overlong and generally miscalculated to add up to an intelligent commentary on misogyny, or a satisfying riposte to it Read
• 4.0 VarietyRichard Kuipers Striving to be a rousing tale of female empowerment in the face of brutal patriarchy and religious extremism, “The Reckoning” has some powerful moments but relies too heavily on fantasy sequences to deliver scares Read
• 4.0 Flick FeastDallas King Hubble, bubble, The Reckoning toils but ultimately will not trouble the pantheon of witchery classics. Read
• 4.0 Flickering MythTom Beasley What we do get is empty, lacking in palpable grime and desperately in need of an injection of real black magic. Read
• 4.0 Caution SpoilersSarah Cartland What lifts the film are some striking visuals, along with an understanding of the mechanics of persecution and how accusers, mostly men, have leveraged them. Read
• 4.0 Ready Steady CutAlix Turner Bad film: shallow writing with plenty of torture and showing off instead. Not what I expected from the director behind Dog Soldiers. Read
• 4.0 Common Sense MediaJeffrey M. Anderson Long and grim, this Black Plague-era witchcraft story is miles away from the artistry and scares of something like The Witch. It focuses instead on endless, uninspired scenes of torture and nightmares. Read
• 3.8 Movie NationRoger Moore And the whole tedious affair makes one wish they’d gone to less trouble making a bad movie with tame villains, an uninteresting lead and confused (Was this recut to play up “the plague?”), scattered story. Read
• 3.8 Film Freak CentralWalter Chaw It's like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, only more boring. What a pity. Read
• 3.8 AMovieGuy.comLeo Brady The Reckoning turns into a mixture of painful survival and a dance with demonic hallucinations. That could be cool for a horror movie, but in this instance, it becomes tedious. Read
• 3.5 CinemalogueTodd Jorgenson The deliberately paced story winds up more tedious than thrilling before a predictable final showdown. Read
• 3.3 The Lens (Cinema St. Louis)Andrew Wyatt The Reckoning is essentially a star vehicle for his partner, Charlotte Kirk, and neither director nor leading lady have the talent to salvage this cheapjack Restoration-era horror flick. Read
• 3.0 DeciderJohn Serba Tonally it's dumb and ugly and woefully miscalculated. Read
• 3.0 Battleship PretensionDavid Bax The Reckoning is overwritten and overacted. So much so, in fact, that it approaches a level of camp. Read
• 3.0 But Why Tho?Caitlin Kennedy This film is voyeuristic, exploitative, and uses the specifically sexual horrors of the witch hunt era as an excuse to leer rather than to horrify. Read
• 3.0 HubPagesChris Sawin The Reckoning is like a bad soap opera with a few squirts of blood and an eyeful of lady butt cheeks for good measure. Its two hour runtime caters to indulgent melodrama over horror, adventure, or anything that would actually resemble entertainment Read
• 3.0 Alternate EndingTim Brayton An exercise in pointless misery, barely even pretending to have a narrative for most of its deadening 110 minutes. Read
• 3.0 MovieJawnDan Scully Feels simultaneously neutered and in poor taste. Read
• 3.0 The Austin ChronicleRichard Whittaker Her performance is more Faye Dunaway in cheeky bodice-ripper remake The Wicked Lady than Anya Taylor-Joy’s rounded depiction of magical madness and misogyny in The Witch. Read
• 3.0 What to WatchMatt Donato 'The Reckoning' is a trashy-terrible witch hunt horror flick that understands so very little about writing a female-centered revenge story beyond torture for over ninety minutes followed by a few dead bodies. Read
• 2.5 Roger EbertSimon Abrams The ensemble cast members all dutifully perform their roles, but there’s not much for them to sink their teeth into. Read
• 2.5 InSession FilmKevin Woodley The Reckoning is tonally confused, ill-conceived, and fails in fulfilling the basic needs of a horror film, neither provocative enough to work as campy grindhouse or serious enough in its history tale. Read
• 2.5 Deep Focus ReviewBrian Eggert Here's a movie where the witch trials are not merely evidence of a frightened patriarchal system resorting to violence to maintain control. It's a system that, apparently, fights the very real threat of witches and demons. Read
• 2.5 I Love SplatterAmie Simon By the time she gets helped out of her cell by the most unnecessary side character/savior of all time and finally got to her Revengenda I had pretty much lost all interest in anything that was happening because how? And why? And nope. Read
• 2.5 Mark Reviews MoviesMark Dujsik It's a movie, not to be watched or experienced, but to endure. Read
• 2.5 One Guy's OpinionFrank Swietek There have been good films about witchcraft trials. Unfortunately Neil Marshall’s “The Reckoning” is not among them. Read
• 2.5 Blu-ray.comBrian Orndorf "The Reckoning" can't shake its absurdity, and while Marshall tries to distract from production limitations with sex, violence, and blush, he still ends up with a dismal feature. Read
• 2.0 The GuardianCath Clarke The film left me shaking with anger more than fear. Read
• 2.0 The i PaperChristina Newland Staid horror tries to be provocative and relevant, but fails. Read
• 2.0 Fiction MachineGrant Watson It is not simply bad - it is the sort of D-grade shelf filler that threatens to ruin careers. Read
• 2.0 The SunDulcie Pearce The idea of a medieval #MeToo story, examining how powerful men have used witchcraft claims to control women throughout history, is interesting. So it's a shame this is a let-down. Read
• 2.0 The Sunday TimesTom Shone The Reckoning is the kind of film where the line "Did somebody say [long pause] witch?" is followed by a lightning strike and orchestral smash. You half-expect to see Marty Feldman hobble into view. Read
• 2.0 StarburstCourtney Button Though the filmmaking and editing is serviceable, it doesn't feel like the hand of a director who seemed so natural and in control of his previous work. Read
• 2.0 ScreenAnarchyShelagh Rowan-Legg The Reckoning suffers from being too boring, too lacklustre, and too poorly constructed from start to finish, to recommend. Read
• 2.0 eFilmCritic.comPeter Sobczynski If there was some ultimate point to all of this cannily presented brutality, one might be able to excuse it but as presented, it feels more as if Marshall is indulging in some personal fetishes and forcing viewers to watch as he satisfies them. Read
• 2.0 In Review OnlineLuke Gorham The Reckoning is a tonal and intellectual disaster, nothing more than an exercise in bland, base brutalism. Read
• 2.0 Warped PerspectiveKeri O'Shea An embarrassing, clumsy film which displays a complete lack of plausibility, plot lulls, plot lurches, dreadful casting (or a misuse of its few good actors) and an array of errors in almost every technical aspect. Read
• 1.5 Nido de CuervosAstinus Canned dialogue, too much red filter and hardly an epic scene to season it with a bit of excitement. Even the deaths feel bland. Read
• 1.0 PajibaKristy Puchko It's a model portfolio masquerading as a grim, boring movie. Read