Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Director: Tom Tykwer
Writer: Mo Buck
Sequel to Inferno
Based on The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri
Cast: James Franco, Tom Hiddleston, Rooney Mara, David Harbour, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Annette Bening, Ian McShane, Frank Dillane, Margaret Qualley, Kate Mara
Plot: Virgil (Tom Hiddleston) and Dante (James Franco) are still standing, recovering from their tough battle with Satan himself, looking at the Purgatory mountain, who's close to them, but still from a good distance. Virgil struggles to explain to Dante what the Purgatory is, so he invokes Muses to help him do it. They sing to Dante what the Purgatory is and he's impressed. The Muses go away and the two heroes decide to go to the Purgatory gate. They're met by an Angel Boatman who doesn't speak and he escorts them on his boat across a much pleasant river than the Acheron in Hell. Once they reach the bottom of the Purgatory mountain, Virgil tells Dante that it's in their best interest to get some sleep before they start climbing and they find a cavern for them to sleep in.
The next morning, they start their ascension and Virgil explains to him that they must only climb the mountain and be outside during the day, as horrible things could happen to them if they happen to be climbing at night or just being outisde. When Virgil finishes his story, they arrive at the second and official gate of the Purgatory, where another mute angel let them through, but not before he draws seven letters on Dante's body. After they pass the gate, Virgil tells Dante that it's because he must wash away his sins in the Purgatory and every time they leave a terrace, a letter shall disappear and he needs to have all of his P's removed if he wants to reach heaven. The seven terraces are named Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice, Gluttony and Lust. After a long day of climbing and walking, they reach the first terrace, Pride.
At Pride, both our protagonists are greeted by Virgin Mary (Rooney Mara) herself. She explains to them that they shall understand the seven sins with her as she will guide them on the Purgatory mountain. She tells them what happens when you're too proud and the sky becomes darker and darker. They all decide that it would be better to go inside, while it's still safe. They struggle to find a place to stay and are attacked by hounds. They're able to send them away, but the group is stunned when they see Satan himself watching over them. Mary tells them this is bad news. The next morning, they leave the first terrace, a letter disappears and Virgin Mary is now a part of their group.
After a difficult climb, the group is able to reach the second terrace, Envy. Mary teaches to Dante that he should love his enemies, not envy them. They're interrupted by someone urging them to come outside to defend the terrace as unidentified creatures are attacking the population. Mary encourages the two of them to go and join the defensive effort, consisting of two other people, brothers Cain (David Harbour) and Abel (Thomas Brodie-Sangster). They join the forces as they were fighting the creatures who looked like a mix between a wolf and a lion, they can both see Satan staring at them from the sky. The battle continues and Abel is the most successful swordsman, killing dozens of creatures. When the fight is over, Abel, Cain, Virgil and Dante return in the small house where Mary was waiting for them. On their way to the house, Abel's bragging about how many creatures he killed and so does Dante. It triggers Cain and takes his sword and cuts his brother's head off. He tells them that he was tired that Abel was always better than him and that he always envied them. He asks Dante to fight him one on one to settle this and Dante accepts. After a lenghy battle, Dante is able to hurt Cain, who gives up and at this point, Dante tells him to love his enemies, not envy them. They go to sleep for the night.
While they're in the third terrace's direction, the trio gets attacked by a group of hounds. They are able to deal with them easily, but Virgil got caught by one of them and his arm his badly injured. He assures Dante and Mary that he will be able to continue. They reach Wrath and have to leave the area rapidly as there's a riot in progress and all three of them fear for their safety. They're able to leave without getting into too much trouble. To reach the next terrace, they have to move fast, as the night is coming and they can't seem to find a shelter for them to get some sleep in. Desperate to get some much needed shut-eye, they decide to make a fire and to sleep in shifts.
While Mary is on guard duty, she's able to spot a man who looks like he's spying on them from a good distance. She wakes Dante and Virgil up, telling them what she's seeing. They spot the man and decide to go after him. In the dark of the night, without the light produced by the fire, they rapidly lose track of the man. They decide that it is time for them to go to the fourth terrace, Sloth. In Sloth, Mary is greeted by her cousin Elizabeth (Annette Bening). She introduces them to the terrace, where everyone lives peacefully, spending their time doing nothing. She cooks them a meal, discusses with them for a while and finally lets them sleep.. Dante makes a weird dream while he's asleep. He's dreaming of a siren seducing him and there's nothing he can do to resist to her charms. Virgil wakes him up the next morning and Dante has no recollection of his dream.
Our heroes are able to reach the fifth terrace mostly unharmed, only Virgil was on the receiving end of an attack earlier on their journey, with his arm still hurting, he assures Dante that he'll continue this journey with him. In Avarice, the fifth terrace, King Midas (Ian McShane) is giving a speech to the population. There's a sudden earthquake and chaos now reigns supreme. The three protagonists are sheltered by Midas and he refuses to let them go after the earhquake, the three of them being having a great bounty of their heads, thanks to Satan himself. Midas recalls that his spy spotted them and he knew he was coming. Virgil and Dante enter in a duel against Midas and quickly get the upper hand. They're about to kill him, but Mary defends them to do so. They escape from the castle, on their way to the sixth terrace, Gluttony.
In Gluttony, Mary, Dante and Virgil are able to eat all what they could possibly think of, but they wisely choose to eat with moderation. They come to know about a supposedly extraordinary lady, Beatrice Portinari. People are in awe of her and Dante really wants to meet her, but Virgil says this moment will come later. They go to sleep and they make their way to the Seventh terrace, Lust. This particular terrace is located at the top of the Purgatory mountain because it's the most common sin of all people. Dante was always a ladies man and Lust will be particularly tough for him to go through. They meet resistance early on, with a huge wall of fire guarding the entrance. Virgin Mary decides to say the holy words for them to pass through it and she leaves them afterwards. After the entrance, the floor starts to collapse and fire explodes out of the broken floor. Satan is watching them from underneath. They run for their life on the pretty much unexistant floor. They're saved at the last minute by no other than Beatrice Portinari (Kate Mara) who opens the gate to allow them to escape. They don't exchange a word until they reach the top of the mountain, the Garden of Eden. There, they meet Adam (Frank Dillane) and Eve (Margaret Qualley). They say that they've witnessed Dante climb the Purgatory and that he's now ready to start his ascension in heaven.
During this time, Beatrice and Virgil are discussing about what will happen to Dante somewhere else in the garden. Beatrice says it would be better if she was the one going with Dante in heaven, as she's more aware of what's up there. Out of nowhere, King Midas arrives, with Satan watching over them. He says that he's here to capture Dante and that it was a mistake for them to not kill him. Virgil, despite his worsening arm injury, tells Beatrice that she needs to take care of Dante and that he will stay behind, defending the Garden with Adam and Eve. Beatrice takes Dante with her, Adam and Eve go to help Virgil. Dante and his new guide prepare for their next ascension, as they see the three others defend themselves against Midas and his army. Beatrice gives Dante a drink from a river and he fades away, as Virgil seen getting killed by Midas. Beatrice and Dante starts to ascend to the stars and the film ends.
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