Set in Ireland in 1209, Brendan Muldowney’s violent crusade film follows a small group of monks travelling across the country, which is torn between centuries of tribal warfare and the growing power of Norman invaders. Asked to escort their monastery’s holiest relic to Rome, the monks soon come under attack by various groups who want to steal the relic and its bejewelled case.
Cinematographer Tom Comerford captures the misty, mossy mysticism of the Irish landscape, and the presence of the robed monks and their crosses amongst symbol-etched trees evokes Ireland’s mix of religion and folklore.
This blend of faith and mystery also applies to the characters, who include Tom Holland’s Novice, all fresh-faced naiveté in the face of the monks’ militaristic and politically minded attackers. Jon Bernthal plays a mute who accompanies the monks, whose violent past emerges as he strives to protect the Brothers.
Sadly, the complexity posed by this premise and setting is not realised in Pilgrimage’s execution, which sacrifices subtlety and development in favour of relentless graphic violence. As swords and axes slice through heads and torsos and carcasses are nailed to trees, the gravity is occasionally punctured by dodgy effects or unintentionally comic death-faces. Excessive but too serious to be pulpy, the onslaught is numbing rather than exciting.
Also muddled is Pilgrimage’s approach to language, as the characters speak a mix of Irish, English, French and Italian to indicate the disparate political and national tribes. It’s an interesting exercise, though the use of English remains inconsistent and the international actors’ butcher the Irish pronunciation until its sounds Elvish.
A bold but flawed exploration of faith and loyalty.