The Reckoning (2003 film)

The Reckoning, also known as Morality Play and as El misterio de Wells in Spain, is a 2003 BritishSpanish murder mystery drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Tom Hardy, Gina McKee, Brian Cox and Vincent Cassel. It was written by Mark Mills and based on the 1995 novel Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Filming was done on location in Spain, Wales, and England.

In 1380 England, the priest Nicholas Bettany flees his village when found in flagrante delicto with a married woman. During flight he witnesses a group that has euthanized a member to give relief from his long recurring internal pain. He becomes known to the group and is captured. The group is a travelling acting troupe who think he is a robber and they explain the killing. Reluctantly, they allow him to join their troupe to replace the member killed. On their journey to the next town they are forced to travel to a new district after a collapsed bridge stops them taking their normal route and to mend the cart that carries their goods although they have no money. The troupe reach a strange town with castle under reconstruction and find a woman being sentenced to death for killing a boy upon the testimony of Benedictine Monk Simon Damian Ewen Bremner. The troupe perform a biblical passion play, but, as told by the groups leader Martin Willem Dafoe, so few attend they are unable to bury the dead troupe member and fix their cart.Martin makes the decision to perform a new play based on the events surrounding the child murder. He and Nicholas visit the condemned mute woman in the dungeons coming away with the strong belief she is innocent. The woman is portrayed a seductress which infuriates the crowd and the parents of the dead boy since he was virtuous and too physically strong to be overtaken by the woman. Norman Lord de Guise Vincent Cassel watches from the castle and sends the sheriff to clear the square by force. Crowds people on leaving the square tell the troupe about more details of the death or disappearance of boys. ........

Source: Wikipedia