“The Uprising” is the new film starring Andrew Garfield and Thomasin McKenzie, from “Bourne” franchise director Paul Greengrass.

It tells the story of “Ploughman” (played by Garfield), an everyman in late 14th-century England who has lost all he can afford to lose due to the plague well before King Richard II demanded more taxes from the common people. The film portrays a duality for the Catholic Church and a portrait of corruption in our elected or chosen officials.

The central conflict that incites the revolt shown in the film would be the teenage King Richard’s reliance on his counsel and how those in positions of power can lose their sense of what is important to the people they are serving.

The Good Newsroom was able to attend a preview screening and press conference with the director and stars to see what Catholics can learn from this historical epic.

During the press conference, Andrew Garfield said, “Justice comes from God, but laws come from man. Corruption of that justice comes from man, and I think that’s one of the themes that this story is dealing with. And I think what [Ploughman] understands by the end is that he needs to become an instrument of true justice, natural justice, soul justice, rather than the laws of man or the laws of a kind of bastardized Christianity.”

Contrasts corrupt and righteous clergy

The film showcases how even those in the vocation of priesthood can be corrupted by the power of governance, with the character of Archbishop Sudbury (played by Stephen Dillane) being one of the main voices condemning the people of England for his own personal gain on the King’s counsel. The film also shows the other side of the coin in the character of the excommunicated priest, John Ball (played by Jamie Bell), who is one of the people fighting the hardest for equality of the common people and was at the forefront of the revolution the film centers on.

“The Uprising” opened nationwide on Friday, Sept. 11.