French cinema tends to be the same theme over and over again. Here however it is a topic hardly ever mentioned and just for that it makes the film worth watching.
Now personally I found the first half of the film extremely hard to watch as we are shown the atrocities of the war, the barely armed peasants sent to be slaughtered by the 'hero' of the film. Then there is the counter attack where non fighters (elders, children and women) get slaughtered and we know it happened.
We mostly follow the side of the Vendeans at a time period called "the Terror" for how people in the same side would cut the heads off their former ally and now rivals, at a time revolutionaries were trying to fight most of Europe with under trained people through sheer numbers. Needless to say the resistance from the Vendeans was not appreciated and the 'solution' to it, as shown in the film, was brutal and merciless.
Be aware it is not a feel good film, it's about dark times and the film shows that well.
I strongly suggest people to watch the film to make their own opinions since many critics put it down for choosing a different topic or being done by a studio which is not vetted by established French studios.
