England in the 14th century: a devastating wave of plague has wiped out large parts of the population. The people suffer under an oppressive tax burden and social injustice. Anger and despair over the tyrannical rule of the young King Richard II. spread further and further across the country.

The simple peasant Ploughman (Andrew Garfield) has lost his entire family during the plague and now finds himself at the center of the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, joining a group of rebels. They are led by Wat Tyler (Cosmo Jarvis) and the charismatic preacher John Ball (Jamie Bell), who call on the people to resist the Crown. Together, the rebels march on London, where the fury over the corrupt rulers erupts in brutal fighting. The young king seems hopelessly overwhelmed by his furious people and manipulated by his consultants. Faced with the escalating violence, he finds himself forced to show a willingness to negotiate.

What follows is a brutal, bloody fight for justice, with plenty of victims on both sides of the battlefield. Ploughman, right at the front, is confronted with the conflicting views of different groups within the revolt. As Alyce, another marcher, rightfully puts it on their way to London: “All will be well once the poison of wealth is removed.” – but after that is removed, it continues, of course, and therefore becomes a drastic depiction of humanity’s insatiable desire for power in all its absurdity and brutality.

Entirely filmed in Germany’s Bavaria, thanks to the many historically accurate villages that still exist there, the set is highly realistic of British medieval villages and sucks the viewer right into this frugal past. Leaving the cinema to the noises and bright light of the 21st century feels almost disorienting after all the dark horrors depicted for the past 128 minutes.