There are times when a movie can cover a few different aspects of culture at once.  Such is the case with The King(2019).  It is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry V (1599), or more accurately the entire “Henriad,” which is a series of three historical plays about the real-life English monarchs Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn) and Henry V (Timothée Chalamet).  Hence, you have a little bit for people into history and theater.  The accuracy is not the greatest, though I am no expert on the fifteenth century, the period during which these events took place.  Theater people, too, might quibble about the departures from the source material.  Again, I have to confess to being unfamiliar with Shakespeare’s work, but I can at least recognize the Bard’s voice in some of the lines.  While these contributions might not be perfect, I would argue that they count for something.  I can say something similar about the Catholic angle to The King.  I love the fact that Henry V is often seen praying, but do not enjoy it when he arbitrarily murders people.  Hopefully, you will get these echoes in the synopsis.

The only echoes in the first scene of The King are those of dying Scotsmen on an early fifteenth century battlefield, though they are not victims of Henry V.  Indeed, he does not have that title for the moment, for it is a victory won against Scottish rebels by the current king’s, Henry IV, lieutenants.  The person sitting on the throne, however, is not in the best of conditions.  When reports of the triumph reach him, they come with questions about his ability to rule.  Wishing to settle the matter of succession, he summons his namesake and his other, younger son, Thomas (Dean-Charles Chapman).  The future Henry V at this time is considered to be of ill-repute, carousing and drinking with his best friend, Sir John Falstaff (Joel Edgerton), who refers to the prince as “Hal.”  With such a nickname, it is little surprising that Hal should not be keen to obey the summons to court, especially when it is only to be publicly and ignominiously passed over for Thomas.  Wishing to prove his worth, Thomas volunteers to lead a campaign against Welsh rebels, a move that Hal advises against as being contrary to peaceful aims.  To prove his point and to try to prevent bloodshed, Hal shows up uninvited on the eve of battle and offers to fight the upstart Sir Harry “Hotspur” Percy (Tom Glynn-Carney) instead of paying the inevitable cost in lives.  Initially, it is turned down, but to Thomas’ annoyance, Sir Harry rides out anyway to confront Hal.  Hal’s deadly defeat of Sir Harry means Thomas must march on to get his glory, and is later killed in an unseen battle.  This means that Hal takes over as the next in line to the crown.  He learns of this when he is visited by the Chief Justice Sir William Gascoigne (Sean Harris), who fills Hal in as to Thomas’ passing and that their father is about to do the same.  Thus, Hal becomes Henry V.  It does not take long for challenges to his rule to begin.  During the feast celebrating his coronation, one of the gifts he receives is a simple ball from the court of King Charles VI (Thibault de Montalembert) of France.  The gesture is taken as a slight, though Henry preaches caution instead of desiring to immediately go to war.  The next affront comes in the form of an assassin sent by the French.  Meanwhile, other French agents attempt to penetrate the English court, winning over two nobles who attempt to also turn Sir William against Henry.  Sir William reveals the plot to Henry, who has the two men killed.  Further, because it appears once again that England’s neighbors across the channel are responsible and ignoring his letters, he decides to declare war.  Before going, Henry recruits Sir John, needing the old friend’s experience as a soldier for the campaign.  As the march across France commences, questions about the king’s strategy begin immediately.  Their first move, the siege of Harfleur, is perceived of as a needless distraction.  Such dissension is encouraged by the arrival of the dauphin, Louis (Robert Pattinson), Charles VI’s son and heir.  Louis taunts Henry, and the French army stalks the English as they go deeper into enemy territory.  This is all meant to lead to the Battle of Agincourt, which is a historical turning point and the climactic moment in Shakespeare’s play.  I appreciated seeing Henry pray on the eve of the clash of arms, but that is why I am Catholic.  Either way, it is Sir John that comes up with the seemingly foolhardy battle plan, which proves victorious though at the cost of his life.  The final moment in the conflict is when Louis attempts to fight Henry hand-to-hand but cannot maneuver in the mud in his armor.  Henry leaves Louis to be killed by the rest of the English soldiers, and he moves on to confront Charles VI face-to-face.  Herny’s goal is to be named the successor to the French crown, which he gets with the French monarch’s pledging of his daughter, Catherine of Valois (Lily-Rose Depp), in marriage.  Once back in England, the crowds are hailing Henry’s victory as they prepare to celebrate the wedding between the English king and French princess.  Before the ceremony, though, Catherine hints that the French had never been behind any of the things that had spurred Henry to declare war on France.  Immediately, there is only one person who could have duped him: Sir William.  During the argument between the two, Sir William offers his desperate supplication by laying his head in Henry’s lap.  Instead, of accepting the apology, Henry murders the Chief Justice.  With that, Henry returns to Catherine, and presumably they go out to their big day.

In Henry’s view, the big day for The King is the battle of Agincourt.  I do not wish to inundate you with history, but a postscript about the rest of his life would have been helpful.  For example, you may be interested to know that the prize won on the battlefield was never realized because he died just before he could be crowned king of France.  However, I can always provide the Catholic footnotes, which go beyond the fact that there are scenes with Henry praying.  That would have been typical for the era, and there are other people depicted with hands folded in communication with God.  It is hard to imagine in our modern, secular society, but most people took Faith seriously at that time.  When these thoughts are applied to Henry V, it is more complicated.  On the one hand, his drunken behavior early in the film would not lead one to suspect that he cares at all about following the strictures of Christianity.  Yet, he is often preaching restraint in fighting battles and going to war.  I realize that having a good time is not necessarily anti-Christian.  I know of plenty of Catholics that have acted in ways one would considered scandalous.  If one has a contrite heart for such behavior and a willingness to change, then the burden of such sins can be shifted.  It does not appear that he has such contriteness, but we are never shown whether, for example, he confessed for his behavior.  Given his repeated desire to avoid “shedding Christian blood,” it would not surprise me if he regularly received the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  Nonetheless, we have yet another contradiction with his lack of mercy for the French prisoners after Agincourt and Sir William.  Interestingly, Henry wants to kill them sooner, but Sir John points out to his friend and king that murder is not Henry’s way.  For the moment, Henry relents.  It is after Sir John dies that Henry orders the slaughter.  In this light, Henry is every bit the complex character God created us all to be.  The problem is that when you are dealing with somebody like a king, the stakes are higher if they are not faithful to God’s commands.

As such, I am not sure I can “command” you to see The King.  While I think the crossover appeal I discussed in the introduction has value, it does enough wrong with each genre to make it a little less than satisfying.  Therefore, proceed with caution.