To Kill a King

"...It takes a traitor and a hero"

2003 1h 42m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 75

DramaActionAdventure

Synopsis

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A recounting of the relationship between General Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell, as they try to cope with the consequences of deposing King Charles I.

“...It takes a traitor and a hero”

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Cast

Tim Roth
Oliver Cromwell
Dougray Scott
Thomas Fairfax
Olivia Williams
Lady Anne Fairfax
James Bolam
Denzil Holles
Corin Redgrave
Lord de Vere
Finbar Lynch
Cousin Henry
Julian Rhind-Tutt
James
Adrian Scarborough
Sergeant Joyce

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Mike Barker
Writers: Jenny Mayhew
Languages: English
Countries: Germany, United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

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Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Germany, United Kingdom.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Mike Barker, shot by Eigil Bryld. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Richard G. Mitchell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Guy Bensley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tim Roth and Dougray Scott and Olivia Williams carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "...It takes a traitor and a hero".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0302436 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Mike Barker directs. Eigil Bryld behind the camera. Richard G. Mitchell scores. Guy Bensley cuts. Produced in Germany, United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 23 years ago.
2International production across 2 countries: Germany, United Kingdom.
3Directed by Mike Barker, shot by Eigil Bryld. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Richard G. Mitchell. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Guy Bensley shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Tim Roth and Dougray Scott and Olivia Williams carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "...It takes a traitor and a hero".
8IMDB entry: tt0302436 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 75 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

The technical file

Cinematography: Eigil Bryld
Original score: Richard G. Mitchell
Editing: Guy Bensley
Production design: Sophie Becher
Makeup / hair: Christine Blundell
Runtime: 102 min · 1h 42m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: To Kill a King (2003)

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Mike Barker

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What people are saying

John Chard2014-01-11
★ 7/10
I was counting on you. You let me down. To Kill a King is directed by Mike Barker and written by Jenny Mayhew. It stars Tim Roth, Dougray Scott, Olivia Williams, James Bolam and Rupert Everett. Music is by Richard G Mitchell and cinematography by Eigil Bryld. It’s the end of the English Civil War and with King Charles 1st (Everett) held prisoner by the Parliamentarians, Sir Thomas Fairfax (Scott) and Oliver Cromwell (Roth), friends and colleagues, fall out over the best plan of action for the New England. A severely troubled production and budgetary constraints left To Kill a King with a mountain to climb just to get acknowledged as a historical epic of worth. Add in the dubious take on this part of English history that so irked the historians, and you would be forgiven for thinking that the film is something of a stinker. Not so actually. For although it’s clearly far from flawless, it’s a literary piece of work that chooses character dynamics over blood and thunder. Suffice to say that those searching for a battle strewn epic should look elsewhere, but if you have a bent for observations on key personalities involved in war politics during times of upheaval in a period setting? Then this delivers the goods. Well performed by the principal players as well. 7/10
CinemaSerf2026-08-27
★ 6/10
History suggests that Oliver Cromwell (Tim Roth) was actually quite a reluctant rebel against the rule of Charles I (Rupert Everett) but that once he had the bit between his teeth, he proved ruthless in the execution of his task to remove the King and assert the supremancy of Parliament as the voice of the people. With the King now imprisoned at Whitehall Palace, though, there is considerable uncertainty as to what to do with him. With victory attained, what is to be gained by murdering a God-annointed king? On the other hand, could keeping him alive merely serve to galavise the hopeful Royalists bent of restoration? Few prove prepared to stand upon to the newly aggrandised Lord Protector, but Sir Thomas Fairfax (Dougray Scott) is one. A long-term confidante of Cromwell, he is one of the few to speak his mind in the hope that he can reign in some of the excesses now being exhibited by a man who was rapidly becoming as despotic as the man they had struggled to defeat - only he couldn't claim any diving right of kings to justify his zealous and murderous puritanism. Meantime, we don't really get to understand much of what drove the deluded king to adhere to his increasingly fraught position, nor do we treally develop much the relationship between himself and Lady Fairfax (Olivia Williams) which alternates inconclusively between the political and the personal. The English civil war was a brutal affair yet we see virtually nothing of that here - budget constraints perhaps? - so much of the drama is left to two actors who don't really own the story and to a verbosity of dialogue that rather drags this admittedly good looking film into a doldrums of "Janet & John" history. Unlike "Cromwell" (1970) this attempts to tell us a story of two men who started off on the same side but whose approaches to victory drove a wedge between them, and it could have been a story worth telling - but this doesn't capture much of the prevailing fear or passion of the time and I'm afraid I was distinctly underwhelmed by the superficiality of the thing.