Now Showing: Thorne

 

Thorne

Genre: Action/Adventure/Historical

Director: Jennifer Kent

Writer: Jimmy Ellis

Cast: Tom Hardy, Benicio del Toro, Emma Mackey, Tatanka Means, Pilou Asbaek, Aaron Pierre, Sam Corlett, Rhys Ifans, David Morrissey, Ismael Cruz Cordova

Plot: Three British Naval ships arrive at an African island. Captain John Seance (David Morrissey) orders his men to retrieve their slaves from the beaches. Malnourished men and women gather on the beach in huddles. Thorne Barclay (Tom Hardy) walks with Dayton Sidney (Sam Corlett). Barclay talks with a Welsh brogue whereas Sidney’s accent is rather elegant. The two of them escort slaves back to the ship, a slave pulls a knife. Barclay and Sidney aim their weapons at the man – but cannot speak his language. Barclay puts his gun down and tries to show him he means no threat. The man lunges with the knife so Sidney shoots him dead. He tells Barclay that there is no room for niceties in this line of work. Returning to the ship, Barclay is ordered to look over the slaves. With all the slaves now secured, they set sail. All three ships go off in different directions. All is well on Séance’s ship. Séance looks at his compass and commands the crew to redirect West. Barclay mumbles that Seance is wrong. Sidney tells Barclay he should keep quiet. Séance tells his right hand to take hold of the wheel and heads down to see Barclay. He yells at him asking who the captain is. Barclay says someone other than Séance should be. Séance aims to strike him but his right-hand yells out, Pirates are near! Séance looks to Barclay as if to say he will be dealt with later. Séance looks through a telescope to see that indeed a pirate ship is closing in on them, its flag brandishing a white skeleton. Séance orders them to ready the cannons.

Barclay, Sidney and other crew members head down to the hull, they ready the cannons and push them through the gun port. The ship is getting closer so they fire the first cannonball. A miss. They reload again, Séance tells them to take cover as the pirate ship fires cannons back, three balls go through the ship's hull, one of them taking a crew mate’s head clean off. The pirate ship crashes into the naval ship and hook on to it. Barclay and Sidney were knocked over by the collision, but recomposed themselves. The gun ports on each ship line up. Sidney throws a dagger through the holes, killing a pirate. Pirates jump over onto the naval ship, guns and swords in hand. A slaughter begins. However, they allow those who surrender to live. Séance surrenders and is approached by the captain of the pirates, Captain Martin Davis (Rhys Ifans). Davis tells Séance that he has been looking for him for years. Barclay and Sidney see what is happening and drop their weapons, sneaking into those that have surrendered. Davis continues, telling Séance that the two of them actually served on the same ship in younger days. Séance hung him out to dry, having him exiled. Séance immediately tenses up. Davis whispers to his right hand, Pelham Kaiser (Pilou Asbaek). Kaiser grabs Séance by the hair and throws him onto their ship. Davis then walks with ‘No-Tongue’ Hitch (Tatanka Means) and surveys all the surrendered soldiers. Davis looks to Hitch and tells him to pick two. Hitch punches all the men. Most of the men are either knocked out or collapse. He comes upon Barclay and Sidney. He punches Barclay who stands strong, not even flinching. He picks him up by the collar and throws him to Davis, he nods. He then punches Sidney who returns the favor, punching Hitch back. Hitch tries to intimidate him by getting in his face. He then laughs, patting Sidney on the back, he too is thrown to Davis. Barclay tells him that there wouldn’t be much treasure, it is a transport vessel for slaves. Davis says that he has gotten what he has come for anyway. He orders Hitch to simply leave the rest. Barclay looks over at the ship as they sail away, he can see the holes in the ship and water leaking inside.

The pirates laugh as they torment a tied-up Séance, passing a rope around, whipping him. Kaiser yells out to Sierra (Aaron Pierre) and tells him to get the new boys. Sierra grabs Sidney and Barclay and walks them to Kaiser. Kaiser tells them they have to do it, or suffer the same consequence as him. Barclay steps forward first and grabs the rope and whips Séance over the stomach multiple times. Barclay hands the rope off to Sidney who whips his captain merely once. Davis steps out of his quarters and walks toward Séance. He grabs his sword from his side and cuts the ties off Séance. He then grabs another sword, giving it to him. Séance uses the sword to stand up. Davis swings the sword once, slicing Séance’s neck. He gives his sword to Sierra and walks toward Barclay and Sidney, telling them to follow him. He walks them into his quarters and sits them down. He tells them that he may have made a mistake. Turns out he only has room for one more crew member. What that means is that the two of them must fight to see which one stays. Sidney interjects, asking if he would have them fight to the death. Davis confirms and says that they fight bare-handed once they return to land. Before excusing them he adds a reward, seeing both men as suitable for his daughter, he says that the winner will lay with her, as a sign of loyalty. Barclay and Sidney walk out of the quarters and walk opposite ways, separated for the rest of the journey back.

Back on land, Davis walks with both Barclay and Sidney, wanting to show them what they are fighting for. The two of them enter a home and stand in a room by themselves. Davis retrieves his daughter, Graycie (Emma Mackey). Sidney and Barclay grab a hand, each kissing it. Graycie jokes that her father picked out a couple gentlemen. She encourages them that they leave that here while they go fight for her love. Barclay and Sidney stand on a dirt road, shirts off, no weapons. Surrounded by crew members and residents alike, Davis announces that the fight may start. Sidney doesn’t hesitate and heads straight in, swinging at Barclay, who grabs Sidney and tosses him over and begins pummeling him. Sidney grabs dirt from the road and throws it up into Barclay’s face. Barclay can’t see and Sidney takes advantage of it. He throws punches in bunches. Sidney stops hitting him for a moment, leading to an opening for Barclay. Barclay grabs Sidney, biting the tip of Sidney’s nose off. As Sidney screams in agony, Barclay begins choking him out, Sidney fights for a while before succumbing to it, his body going limp. Barclay walks away, a bloody wreck, tired and limping. He stands toe to toe with Davis, looking him in the eye (one of Barclay’s is swollen shut). Davis smiles before signaling for Kaiser to get his daughter and take Barclay for a bath.

Barclay sits in a bath, his face cleaned of blood. Graycie sits on a stool with a sponge and cleans him all over. Barclay asks her what her father is like. Graycie says that he is a loving father, to not only her but many of the crew. She continues that in his earlier days he saved Hitch when he was 12, men in North America were cutting off his tongue after butchering his family. Graycie elaborates that the crew is like one big family, and she hopes that he can feel that way soon enough. Barclay says that he thinks he’s bathed for long enough. He gets out and lifts Graycie’s head, ever so delicately, he kisses her. He then lifts her up and carries her onto a bed, she laughs. He begins removing her clothes. The two of them proceed to have sex.

Barclay is in a new pirate regalia; he walks the ship with a sense of belonging. The 6 months he has spent on the ship has been spent plundering and building camaraderie. Davis was so impressed with his eagerness to learn and ferociousness in battle that he very quickly rose the ranks of the crew. He is even up near the wheel with Kaiser and Davis himself, helping Davis with the navigation. Graycie has been spending much more time on the ship, with Barclay becoming quite close to her.

Sierra notices a port they have sailed by on many occasions, one that they have wanted to plunder for quite some time, with only one ship. He brings this information to the three of them. Davis and Kaiser believe it a good idea to plunder the ship and dock. Barclay, however, does not think it wise, believing it may be an ambush. Davis, however, listens to his own judgment and orders the men to sail in. They anchor up and row into shore. Hitch & Kaiser head to the ship along with a few other crew members, the rest of them focus on the dock and island. Only one man is on the ship, Hitch sneaks up behind him and slices his throat. They begin to search the ship, but find no treasure. Barclay, Sierra and Davis search around the island for some treasures, while on high alert for the remaining members of the ship. Barclay feels uneasy about the situation and pleads with Davis that they return to the ship. Davis tells him not to be so stupid, they are perfectly capable of handling one ship. When Hitch and Kaiser exit the ship and see many British officers surrounding them, Kaiser yells out that it’s a trap. The others searching the island are ambushed by the members of the naval crew. The British officers begin firing upon the looters. Kaiser and Hitch hide behind cover, shooting their guns and taking out a few officers. Sierra kills a few of the officers upon his return. Barclay and Davis continue running back, Barclay runs into a British officer and pulls his sword, he dodges a strike from the officer and stabs him. The death of the officers causes their leader to yell out for a retreat. The officers that were with Hitch and Kaiser turn to retreat, running into Barclay and Davis. Barclay manages to viciously kill two of them. Davis is cornered by the officers. He puts up a fight but is eventually kille. Barclay arrives too late to save him but still takes out the officers. Sierra, Hitch and Kaiser arrive on the scene, seeing Barclay kill the officers and kneel beside Davis, who is already dead.

The crew place their dead on timber and burn their bodies. They decide they need to vote on a new captain. The obvious contender is Kaiser, but he only gets 2 votes. The rest of the crew votes for Barclay - even Kaiser himself. He is shocked and asks why. Sierra tells him he is the best navigator they have and for a captain that is the biggest quality. Barclay accepts the title. He says his first order of business is to kill the bastards that killed Davis. They devise a plan to take out all of the remaining officers.

The crew raids the British officers' camp, killing every last one of them in brutal fashion. Barclay has the men take anything they deem worthy. He instructs Hitch with grabbing the leader and tying him up, taking him back to the boat. Back on the ship, Graycie sees Barclay giving orders and approaches him asking what happened to her father. He tells her that they were ambushed and her father was killed. She cries in Barclay’s arms. He hands her off to Sierra to take her back into their quarters. Hitch ties the British captain up, similar to how Séance was at the beginning. They too get a rope and begin whipping him. Kaiser interrogates the officer, asking how they knew they would come. The officer says that all of Britain has it out for pirates, they knew one ship would come, not necessarily which one. Barclay pulls out his sword and cuts him loose. He slashes the man’s shoulders and knees before asking if he can swim. The British captain is then thrown overboard. The crew look to Barclay as their new captain and ask where to next. He tells them that they will return home, the ship is no place for Graycie especially after what happened today. After that they will venture into Spanish waters. He has heard the treasures are plentiful.

The crew arrives back in their homeland. Barclay walks with Graycie straight home. He tells Graycie that he wants her to stay here for a while, but he intends on returning with many treasures to share with her. She disagrees, saying that she wants to be with him on his journey, adding that he wouldn’t want their child to grow up without their father. He smiles and kisses her but says this journey will be one that provides great riches, but the danger exceeds anything that he wants to put her and their kin into. Graycie agrees with his decision in the end, telling him to come back in one piece. A final kiss before he departs.

Barclay’s navigation skills allowed the crew to arrive on the coast of Spain without many hiccups. When they are closer Barclay tells Kaiser to raise the Spanish flag – of which they had stolen on an earlier attack- a tactical ploy to get as close as possible to shore.

They release the anchor and Kaiser looks through binoculars, noticing 4 ships on shore. One of which he can see has no crew on board. Barclay tells Pierre that the two of them will row into shore, the rest will stay with the ship. They are going to steal the empty ship. Barclay and Sierra row into shore. They are immediately met by the gaze of the civilians on the beach. They just smile back. The two of them walk to the processor of the ships. Barclay whispers to Sierra to ask who is captain of the ship. Sierra asks this and the processor wants to know why. Sierra improvises, asking if it is Captain Sierra’s (using his own name) the processor corrects him, it is Captain Ravelino’s, Sierra apologizes saying he was mistaken. The two of them walk away with Sierra saying everything that was said. Barclay says that he has heard of Ravelino’s reputation, nothing they can’t handle. He sends Sierra to give him a message – he has heard he spends most of his time at the whorehouse. Sierra approaches the whorehouse and is met by Cordova (Ismael Cruz Cordova), Sierra tells him to give Ravelino a message, “Barclay sends his regards” Cordova looks at Sierra oddly before heading in. Sierra begins running back to the ship. He gets back to the ship as Barclay is taking up the anchor. They begin to sail away on the stolen ship.

In the whorehouse Cordova approaches Ravelino (Benicio Del Toro) who makes him wait until he finishes. Cordova gives him the message, at first Ravelino has no idea what he is saying but after a moment it clicks, Barclay is a name he has heard once before.

Barclay and Sierra arrive back at their ship, and use anchor-like ropes to hook them together. Barclay orders that Hitch, Sierra and Kaiser head onto the Spanish ship and start looking for gold. He orders other crew members to raise the anchor, they should have company soon. He tells them that if all goes to plan they should have 4 ships of gold by the end of it. Once the anchor is raised they begin sailing away. As they do, the three Spanish ships begin to sail after them, with one very unhappy Ravelino looking to take back what is his. Sierra, Hitch and Kaiser look through the Spanish ship for some treasures. They bust down the door of a room and walk in, gold, as far as they can see. The three men look to each other and carry as much as they can. Kaiser yells out to Barclay. Barclay looks back at the Spanish ships following, feeling they have a bit of time to throw some treasures over. They lower the anchor and the Spanish ship pulls up next to theirs. Hitch, Kaiser and Sierra begin throwing some treasure over, before heading down the hull for some more. They keep going and get as much as they can. Barclay has seen enough and tells them to get back on the original ship – raising the anchor. Ravelino and the Spanish have caught up quite a bit – was this a mistake from Barclay? Sierra spots a storm in the distance. Barclay can tell that the Spaniards are gaining on them. He tells Hitch to get rid of the Spanish ship. Hitch runs up the back of the ship and unhooks the anchor rope – speeding their ship up in the process. Still the Spanish ships are gaining – Barclay tells his crew to brace, he has an idea that may end in death. He begins to steer the ship toward the storm. Ravelino does not stop to get his ship – he is more intent on killing the men that stole it and his treasures.

The ocean begins to become more choppy, Ravelino begins firing upon the ship with the superior firepower of his Spanish ship. Barclay and his men go up and down the choppy waves, as water comes on deck. More cannonballs come from Ravelino’s ships, one of them hitting the top of Barclay's, sending one man into the ocean. One of the Spanish fleet is engulfed by a wave, flipping it over – leaving 2 Spanish ships left. A lightning strike hits in front of them. They head straight into a large wave, sending a few crew members overboard. Sierra is thrown over but holds onto the side, and Hitch quickly runs over to help him back up. Ravelino orders his men to fire a few more cannonballs. One of them directly hits Hitch – a gaping hole is through his chest. Sierra falls overboard, but manages to hang onto the side of the ship. Barclay yells out for him to hold on, Kaiser runs over and helps him up. Barclay can see some bluer skies ahead. Ravelino and the other Spanish ship are met with huge waves, sending them crashing into each other. Ravelino’s ship gets the least of it, however most of the hull on the other one is damaged, and it begins to sink. Barclay’s ship is met by one last wave, it goes over it, but slows it down quite a bit. They finally escaped the storm.

Not so fast though as Ravelino’s ship comes in fast, crashing into Barclay’s. Cordova jumps over to Barclay’s ship and shoots a member of the crew. He then shows off some sword skills, crouching to one knee and slicing the knees of many. Kaiser and he come face to face, as more of Ravelino’s men come onto the ship. Sierra heads down as Barclay and Ravelino lock eyes. Barclay walks down the stairs, killing two people as he does. He heads over to the Spanish boat, standing toe to toe with Ravelino. The two begin an epic duel with their swords. They fight all around the ship with Ravelino, the more skilled swordsman. Kaiser and Cordova too fight with their swords, with each taking out opposite crew members. Sierra is caught 3 on 1, he manages to block a few attacks with his sword, bending over and slicing one man's legs off. He then has a gun pulled on him and is shot in the head. Kaiser forces Cordova to the side of the boat, Cordova is leaning over the edge, Kaiser pushes all his weight down on his sword, one of his hands even holding the blade. The sword slowly enters Cordova’s throat – killing him. The fight between Barclay and Ravelino is still ongoing. Barclay is eventually disarmed by Ravelino. Ravelino mocks him then slices his chest. Barclay has a rage built up inside. He charges at Ravelino, tackling him to the ground. He begins pummeling Ravelino’s head, much like he did with Sidney. He reaches for a broken piece of wood, and stabs Ravelino multiple times in the head. He stands, with blood on his face and yells to both crews, that the fight is done – he adds that only one of these ships will sail out of here, if they want to live they best be on this one (the Spanish ship). He tells all who are still alive that they best be getting the treasure from under his ship, and they can live a rich, happy life, splitting all they find. Kaiser looks to him nodding.

Barclay sails his new ship off into the horizon, commanding a new crew.