Directed by Nick Hamm (Driven (2018); The Journey (2016); Killing Bono (2011)) and starring Claes Bang (The Northman (2022); The Outlaws (tv series, 2021-21); The Girl in the Spider's Web (2018)), Connor Swindells (Barbie (2023); The Vanishing (2018); Vigil (tv series, 2021)), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi (1982); Schindler's List (1993); Iron Man 3 (2013)), Sam Keeley (The Cured (2017); The Siege of Jadotville (2016); The Dry (tv series, 2024); Dublin Murders (tv series, 2019)), Golshifteh Farahani (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017); Paterson (2016); Blind Spot (2019)) and Jake Dunn (Muse (2021); Get even (tv series, 2020)).

Historical action adventure; 133 mins; 16+

Set around 1307, Austrian King Albert (Ben Kingsley) of the Habsburg Family was starting to lose his grip on regions of what was to become Switzerland. Baumgarten (Sam Keeley) was out hunting when his village was ransacked and his wife was killed; he fled over the mountains where William Tell (Claes Bang) was the only one to hel him, by rowing across the lake during a fierce storm.

Gessler (Connor Swindells), loyal to the king, and his henchman Stussi (Jake Dunn) then set off on a quest to find Tell and bring him to justice.

The backdrop to this series of events was that the Holy Roman Empire was in decline and William Tell had fought in the Crusades in the Holy Land where he met his wife Suna (Golshifteh Farahani) whose character was determined as his. He was now a peaceful hunter, expert with the crossbow,  and family man, though a barn still stored his collection of crossbows, chain mail and other weapons, etc.

The Swiss are portrayed here as peaceful farmers, yet the tyrannical nature of the imposition by the Austrians leads them to resist and rise up against the threat, with history showing us that these events were the forerunner to the Swiss confederacy.

With more than one comparison with Randall Wallace's 1995 classic Braveheart in which Mel Gibson's character (William Wallace) unites his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England...

Rated 16+ for some gory scenes near the beginning, but it settles into an action film involving many characters on both sides. Entertaining and watchable.

Currently screening at Kinepolis and Ciné Utopia in Luxembourg.

ED