''The Gathering'' is a 2002 British thriller/

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Brian Gilbert and starring Christina Ricci.

Plot synopsis

Cassie Grant ( Christina Ricci) is a young girl from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

who is wandering through

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on foot. On her way to

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and publi ...

Wake, Cassie is hit by a car. The driver of the car, Mrs. Marion Kirkman (

Kerry Fox Kerry Lauren Fox (born 30 July 1966) is a New Zealand actress. She came to prominence playing author Janet Frame in the movie ''An Angel at My Table'' directed by Jane Campion, which gained her a Best Actress Award from the New Zealand Film and ...

), immediately calls an ambulance. During an examination at the local hospital the doctor concludes Cassie only has some scratches and not even a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

, but Cassie has lost her memory due to the accident. She only knows her name and mother country, but she does not know which town she comes from, who her family is, and why she is in England. The doctor explains to her that the loss of memory is caused by a shock and that she will regain it after some recuperation. As a result of the examination, Cassie is checked out. Mrs. Kirkman invites Cassie to stay at her house until she has overcome her loss of memory, because Mrs. Kirkman feels guilty and responsible for the lonely girl who nobody knows. While recovering, Cassie is drawn into a deeper mystery, which seems to involve her hosts and other people she sees about the town. Her lack of memory compounds the air of suspense as she encounters a man named Dan Blakely (

Ioan Gruffudd Ioan Gruffudd (; (born 6 October 1973) is a Welsh actor. He first came to public attention as Fifth Officer Harold Lowe in ''Titanic'' (1997), and then for his portrayal of Horatio Hornblower in the '' Hornblower'' series of television films ...

), whom she believes she knows, but with no idea from where. Cassie becomes very attached to Mrs. Kirkman's son, Michael (Harry Forrester) and becomes acquainted with her husband Simon (

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ada ...

), an

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

, who is in the process of examining a church from

Early Christianity Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish ...

(built in

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

during the first century AD) after the arrival of

Joseph of Arimathea Joseph of Arimathea was, according to all four canonical gospels, the man who assumed responsibility for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. The historical location of Arimathea is uncertain, although it has been identified with several t ...

. This church was recently discovered by two visitors to the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, who died after falling down a hole through the open roof of the buried church. In the Church there is an unusual

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

made of stone, which illustrates the

crucifixion Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...

of Christ. Also depicted are many curious onlookers who appear to be observing the gruesome scene. During the next few days, Cassie has visions of the future of the people around her. She also recognises certain people who seem to watch her and often appear in a certain place in Glastonbury which she visits. She observes the strange

auto mechanic An auto mechanic (automotive technician in most of North America, light vehicle technician in British English, and motor mechanic in Australian English) is a mechanic who services and repairs automobiles, sometimes specializing in one or more ...

, Frederick Michael Argyle (

Peter McNamara Peter McNamara (5 July 1955 – 20 July 2019) was an Australian tennis player and coach. McNamara won five singles titles and nineteen doubles titles in his career. A right-hander, McNamara reached his highest singles ATP-ranking on 14 March ...

) and examines his belongings, which include a

scrapbook Scrapbook may refer to: * Scrapbooking, the process of making a scrapbook Software * Scrapbook, an early (1970s) information storage and retrieval system * Scrapbook (Mac OS), a Mac OS application * ScrapBook, a Firefox extension Film and TV ...

containing news clippings that detail accusations of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

at a local

orphanage An orphanage is a Residential education, residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the Childcare, care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parent ...

, that were ignored by the townspeople. The orphanage turns out to be the house the Kirkmans now live in. Cassie finds that Argyle was one of the children who was abused and that he identifies himself with the young Michael. She discovers that Argyle is planning to take revenge on the people of the town for their cruelty to him. Cassie suspects that a catastrophe is imminent, but she is unable to persuade anyone else of the impending danger she senses. She eventually finds out that the relief in the church illustrates a group of people known as "The Gathering". They are immortal and damned to watch catastrophes and murders for eternity as they stopped to watch the crucifixion of Christ out of morbid curiosity, a concept similar to the legend of the

Wandering Jew The Wandering Jew is a mythical immortal man whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century. In the original legend, a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion was then cursed to walk the Earth until the Second Coming. Th ...

. The priest and Bishop also discover this, and the priest rushes to inform Mr. Kirkman. However, on the way, he sees the "Gathering" on a bridge over the highway, and dies in a car accident as a result. The Gathering merely watch. Later that same day, Cassie experiences visions where she watches a young Argyle dragged into the house by the orphanage priest, while three of the town's leading figures watch and laugh. The priest then drags the child into a nearby room where he further abuses the child and is joined by the other three men. Cassie follows the men into the room, only to wake from the vision to see Michael standing over pictures of the archaeological site. Cassie then finds one of the photographs, which seems to horrify her. However, after the priest's accident, the Bishop is able to pass on this strange news to Mr. Kirkman, who realises that his family is in great danger. He hastens to drive home to try to prevent whatever is fated to occur. Cassie is then seen attending the local festival with the Kirkman children only to then see the strange people gathering around the fairgrounds. She attempts to warn the police once more of Argyle's intent, but instead discovers Dan, who has killed the officer on duty. He then reveals that he is one of the Gathering, who have since stopped simply watching the world's tragedies but have also begun to set up the potential tragedies to be more likely to happen. Cassie manages to prevent Argyle from killing festival goers with a bomb, but is unable to stop him taking revenge upon the men who had abused him. After a harrowing chase, Cassie sacrifices her life to save the lives of the children of the Kirkman family. Mr. Kirkman arrives just in time to stop Argyle from killing his family. At the end it is revealed that Cassie also belongs to ''The Gathering'', because just after she "dies", she appears standing among them as they stare at Argyle being electrocuted. Cassie is shown to be weeping while the others just stand there and watch impassively. Because Cassie has shown compassion and tried to prevent evil deeds, her life of wandering will end and she will find peace, which she tells the son of Mr. Kirkman at night on the same day. Similarities with the

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

story "The Crowd" have been noted.

Cast

* Christina Ricci as Cassie Grant *

as Dan Blakeley *

as Marion Kirkman *

as Simon Kirkman *

Simon Russell Beale Sir Simon Russell Beale (born 12 January 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabe ...

as Luke Fraser *

Robert Hardy Timothy Sydney Robert Hardy (29 October 1925 – 3 August 2017) was an English actor who had a long career in theatre, film and television. He began his career as a classical actor and later earned widespread recognition for roles such as Sieg ...

as Bishop * Harry Forrester as Michael Kirkman * Jessica Mann as Emma Kirkman * Peter McNamara as Frederick Michael Argyle

Filming locations

The production team visited

Penshurst Place Penshurst Place is a historic building near Penhurst, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The origi ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

to film at the Barons Hall, which doubled up as part of the Church where the Bishop held meetings with the Clergy. The external filming of the church was

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, England.

Critical reaction

Versions

There are two different versions of the film. In the USA, the United Kingdom and in Germany only an abridged version was published on DVD, which is 13 minutes shorter than the original. A sex scene and many dialogues were left out. This abridged version lasts exactly 83:31 (PAL-DVD). The unabridged TV version, shown on ZDF in Germany and on BBC in the UK, and released on DVD in France, Poland and Japan, lasts approx. 97 minutes (PAL) and 101 minutes (NTSC).

Awards

* Nomination for the

Fantasporto Fantasporto, also known as Fantas, is an international film festival, annually organized since 1981 in Porto, Portugal. Giving screen space to Fantasy film, fantasy/Science fiction film, science fiction/Horror film, horror-oriented commercial fe ...

Award 2003 * Nomination for the Golden Fleece of the Golden Trailer Awards 2003

References

External links

* *
''The Gathering'' at Yahoo Movies
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gathering, The 2002 films 2002 horror films 2000s horror thriller films 2000s supernatural films British horror thriller films Films shot at Elstree Film Studios Films shot in Kent Films shot in Somerset Religious horror films Films with screenplays by Anthony Horowitz British supernatural horror films British supernatural thriller films Dimension Films films Films scored by Anne Dudley Films directed by Brian Gilbert 2000s English-language films 2000s British films