With an ambitious story, an impressive sense of scale, and just enough modern attitude to keep its medieval world from taking itself too seriously, The Kingdom of Rexmonte is a remarkably confident debut from Rebeccah Crabtree. If this is where she starts, it should be interesting to see where she goes next.
by Nav Qateel
First time writer director Rebeccah Crabtree offers us the sprawling comedic fantasy The Kingdom of Rexmonte, a period piece set in a time where kings and nobles rule the lands. After a misunderstanding between two small groups of rival soldiers causes them to slaughter one another, King Benjamin Rexmonte (James Arthur Sims) sends his daughter Princess Monica (JeaDa Lay) into the kingdom of Mortiri to broker for peace.
It is revealed that King Mortiri has died leaving his wacky son Prince, now King Lucian in charge. While the former king was a peaceful man, the unstable Lucian is the exact opposite, sending his army into Rexmonte lands to kill and pillage. Clearly Lucian is modelled on the one and only Joffrey Baratheon (immortalized by Jack Gleeson’s performance), making the slimy king one of the more interesting characters in Crabtree’s affair. You certainly won’t be rooting for him but you will be entertained every second he’s on screen.
Queen Melinda Rexmonte, performed by Marcia Hopson, would rather have a show of force by sending hardened, experienced knights to confront the Mortiri’s, but the king is more about peace. Prince Frederick Rexmonte, performed by David W Rice, is training hard to be a fighter but also the eventual ruler of the kingdom. After his father sends his sister rather than the prince, Frederick decides to go it alone and see if he can see what the Mortiri army have planned.
Accompanied by the comedic Christopher (Ronan Melomo) and brave Sir Andrew (Nick Jacobs), Monica comes across a mysterious caped and masked figure who gives the princess a scroll. The contents of the scroll is revealed around the halfway mark, after Monica meets up with the others, where they continue on their adventure. There are a few good surprises along the way, so rather than reveal any more of the story I’ll leave it there.
It is rare for a new filmmaker to make a film of this size and scope, and even more so to pull it off so convincingly. Crabtree has produced a film worthy of a far more experience movie maker, and she made it look easy. The writing is good, with nice touches of comedy that mostly work. Having the adults speak like fifteenth-century folks but have the younger people speak like they just hopped of a plane from downtown L.A. took a bit of getting used to. Hearing words like “sick,” “dude” and “yo bitch” was interesting in a ye olde period movie.
The setting and period buildings were a fantastic touch, and more than impressed me. It was shot well and the actors were each solid and convincing. The sound was actually particularly good with the music that helped move the story along just right. Director Rebeccah Crabtree demonstrates that she’s a force to be reckoned with in the business and has hit the ground running with The Kingdom of Rexmonte. This film was enjoyable from beginning to end and will please people of all ages. A must see.
Nav’s Score: 7.5/10
