WISE Score
Avg. Tomatometer
A grim, gritty medieval horror-thriller where the plague is the least of your problems.
72%
72%View →If you're looking for a lighthearted medieval adventure, run the other way. Black Death is a muddy, bloody, and deeply cynical horror movie. It's well-made for what it is—a low-budget genre piece with a great cast—but it's not 'fun' in any traditional sense.
It’s the kind of movie you watch once, appreciate the grit, and then never want to see again. For parents, there is zero kid-appeal here; it's a movie about the end of the world and the worst parts of human nature.
This is strictly for adults and maybe very mature older teens who have already seen things like Game of Thrones. The violence is visceral, and the themes of religious torture are heavy.
This is a movie about the Bubonic Plague, religious fanaticism, and human cruelty. It is the literal opposite of 'wholesome.'
The production design captures the claustrophobic, mud-caked misery of the 14th century quite well, and it plays with the 'is it magic or just madness' trope effectively.
Includes visceral scenes of torture, plague victims, and brutal medieval combat. It's an R-rated experience that doesn't pull punches.
It offers a dark look at how fear and superstition can drive social collapse, but it's primarily a horror-thriller rather than an educational piece.
Released in 2010, Black Death arrived during a minor wave of 'gritty' medieval movies, but it stands out because it leans much harder into the horror genre than the action-adventure genre. Directed by Christopher Smith, it follows a young monk (Eddie Redmayne) who joins a group of fundamentalist knights led by Sean Bean. Their mission: find a village that is supposedly untouched by the plague and bring its 'necromancer' leader to justice.
What follows is a slow descent into madness. The film does a great job of keeping you guessing—is there actually something supernatural happening, or is it all just a mass delusion brought on by the trauma of the Black Death? By the time you get the answer, the movie has already subjected you to some of the most uncomfortable medieval violence put to film in that decade.
Beyond the obvious R-rated gore, the movie is emotionally taxing. It explores the idea that 'good' people can do horrific things when they believe they are on a mission from God. It’s a cynical take on history that doesn't offer the catharsis of a hero's journey. If your teen is a history buff who thinks the Middle Ages were all knights in shining armor, this will be a very rude awakening.
Get a personalized guide on any topic
