Black Death2011
103 minutes
rated R
by Scott Mendelson
Christopher Smith's Black Death is a thoughtful and engaging film that isn't quite as traumatic as it wants to be. As an examination of faith in an era where there is no plausible hope, it portends to examine the dangers of fundamentalism in all cloths. That it doesn't quite reach the grand heights to which it attempts is only a token disappointment. It may not have anything groundbreaking to say, but it remains a creepy and occasionally disconcerting period piece. And it establishes Christopher Smith as a genuine talent coming off the prior triumphs of Severance and the genuinely terrific Triangle.
