Before Spider-Man, Tom Holland And Jon Bernthal Starred In This Overlooked 2017 Movie – SlashFilm

When director Brendan Muldowney began shooting his 2017 Fourth Crusade-era drama “Pilgrimage” back in 2015, he surely knew he was working with the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s newly cast Spider-Man and The Punisher, Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal (respectively). Within a year’s time, both actors would be marketable stars, paving the way for their eventual reunion in the fast-approaching sequel “Spider-Man: Brand New Day.” If he made a compelling movie out of Jamie Hannigan’s screenplay, he could have a sleeper hit with reach beyond the arthouse.

Unfortunately, this is probably the first time you’ve heard of “Pilgrimage.” Despite receiving mostly positive reviews (it currently has a Fresh 68% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes), the film got lost in the streaming shuffle and is rarely discussed nine years after its unceremonious initial release. Obviously, a movie about Cistercian monks toting around a holy relic that may power their side to victory in the forthcoming Fifth Crusade isn’t going to light the fire of folks who line up for movies about superheroes chasing down ancient gems that, if joined together, could … power … um, maybe someone left a pile of money on the table here.

There’s brutal combat in “Pilgrimage,” with Bernthal playing a mute Crusade veteran of unknown origin. The film’s monks don’t know where he’s from, but when he gets to busting skulls on their behalf, they begin to think his unexpected presence in their journey is an act of divine providence. They have, to quote the 2012 movie that redefined blockbuster filmmaking, a Hulk. So, how did this film fail to gain any kind of commercial traction?

“Pilgrimage” made the film festival rounds in 2017, but it’s rare that a movie with this kind of star power launches out of Tribeca, Edinburgh, or Galway. Had Brendan Muldowney made the cut at Sundance, Berlin, or Cannes, “Pilgrimage” likely would’ve likely found U.S. theatrical distribution. Instead, it got buried. Ridley Scott’s far more expensive Crusade masterpiece “Kingdom of Heaven” suffered a similar fate.

Star power has never been absolute. Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson were marquee gold in 1987 when they came together for Hector Babenco’s film adaptation of William Kennedy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning bestseller “Ironweed,” and the movie simply died (grossing $7.3 million at the box office against a $27 million budget). Mind you, Tom Holland and Jon Bernthal are not Meryl Streep and Jack Nicholson, and they likely never will be (although I’m open to seeing this particular duo in a fresh take on “Ironweed”).

“Pilgrimage” is a serious film with a pained conscience. It’s telegraphed in the way that movies about the Crusades must be, but it leaves the viewer in an unsettled place. If you’re looking for a gore-soaked ode to sword-swinging dismemberment, you’re probably not going to get your fill out of Muldowney’s film. (That’s what Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Bill” is for.) And if you’re looking for an emphatic thematic statement, that’s not in the cards, either. “Pilgrimage” tangles with troubling ideas, but even Muldowney’s respectable period piece can’t solve the central issue of why we keep killing in the name of a lower-case god.