Pilgrimage (2017 film)

Pilgrimage is a 2017 Irish medieval film directed by Brendan Muldowney, and starring Tom Holland, Richard Armitage and Jon Bernthal. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2017.^[3]

In AD 55 Cappadocia, Saint Matthias is dragged in chains by a group of men to be stoned to death. Before the final stone is thrown, lightning begins to crackle overhead.

In 1209 Medieval Ireland, French Cistercian monk Frère Geraldus arrives at a remote monastery with a charter from Pope Innocent III, commanding the monks to undertake a pilgrimage to transport their holiest relic to Rome, in the hope that it will aid in the upcoming Fifth Crusade. The monks reluctantly agree as legend tells that the relic's holy power will destroy any not pure-hearted enough to possess it. A handful of monks set out, including multilingual Brother Ciarán and novice Brother Diarmuid, accompanied by a mute labourer. As the group is caught in a rainstorm, the golden reliquary is struck by lightning but shows no damage, further reinforcing the notion of its mystical power.

A larger caravan of armed men, led by Raymond, sets out escorting the monks to the boat that awaits them in Waterford. Raymond, speaking French, tells the mute labourer that some of his men recognise him as a former crusader but not from where; only Brother Ciarán speaks French, and the rest of the monks are left in the dark. En route, the caravan finds that a necessary bridge has been burned and its guards slaughtered, and Raymond takes most of the soldiers with him to give chase, leaving the monks with a token guard.

The monks continue, but are quickly ambushed by a group of Gaelic warriors, who slaughtered the soldiers and several monks. The Mute dives to protect the young Diarmuid, but is stunned by a rock from a sling. As the Gaels make off with the cart bearing the reliquary, the Mute regains consciousness, grabs a sword from a fallen soldier, and kills several of the Gaels, including their chieftain; the rest scatter in fear. The two surviving monks, Diarmuid and the timid Cathal, are astonished until Geraldus claims the Mute's fierce actions as holy wrath on the Gaels for desecrating the reliquary. They choose to follow after the stolen relic, as it is too dangerous to wait for rescue by Raymond's troops.

As the Mute and Diarmuid prepare to sneak into the camp, Raymond and his lieutenants appear. They are there for the relic, as they hired the Gaels to murder the pilgrims so that King John of England could claim the relic instead of the Pope. He says that John has become distrustful of his nobles in Ireland, thinking that they are more loyal to their relatives in Normandy and the King of France than to himself. During their discussion Diarmuid sneaks to Ciarán's side and attempts to cut his bonds; Brother Ciarán insists the boy let him go. Ciarán, who was driving the cart bearing the reliquary during the ambush, tells Diarmuid that he threw the relic from the cart before he and the cart were taken and that Diarmuid must find the relic and leave him to his fate.

The chime is the bell of a river ferry. Geraldus suggests that the Mute murder the ferrymen to enable their escape, but Brother Cathal barters with pearls he recovered from when they fell loose of the reliquary. The boat takes them almost to the coast, but as the tide is out, the estuary is too shallow to pass. Behind them, Raymond and his men cross into a clearing on the shore. The ferrymen, realizing their own danger, throw their cargo out of the boat, and all push the boat through the shallows. Geraldus, speaking French, convinces the Mute to turn around and buy the pilgrims time to escape, as God will forgive the former Crusader's sins, no matter how great. Diarmuid is crushed and tries to stop the Mute, but Geraldus holds him back as the boat begins to float.

On the boat, Cathal reveals that he was struck with the last arrow in and slumps over. Hearing the clang of swords ashore, Geraldus tells Diarmuid that the holy relic will inspire a thousand men like the Mute to holy violence. In disgust, Diarmuid moves to throw the relic overboard. Geraldus struggles with him and goes overboard with the relic, sinking to the ocean floor.

The surviving ferryman asks Diarmuid, "Where to now?", but the novice has no answer. As the camera fades away a supernatural light shines down on the boat indicating God's will has been done.

• Tom Holland as Brother Diarmuid
• Richard Armitage as Raymond de Merville
• Jon Bernthal as The Mute
• John Lynch as Brother Ciarán
• Stanley Weber as Frère Geraldus
• Eric Godon as Baron de Merville
• Hugh O'Conor as Brother Cathal
• Tristan McConnell as Dugald
• Eóin Geoghegan as Crobderg
• Rúaidhrí Conroy as Brother Rua

Filming started in April 2015. Filming locations included the West Coast of Ireland and Ardennes in Belgium.^[4]

Katie Walsh of Los Angeles Times wrote, "For all its bloody and violent genre trappings, Pilgrimage [...] is a gorgeously shot film that carefully renders the details of this fascinating historical period."^[5]

• Pilgrimage at IMDb