There is a bizarre tendency to view history as dull and uninteresting, which is very likely a remnant of the fact that many associate the past with the sanitised, overly-neatened version we received in school, where the thornier and more exciting details were deliberately elided, mainly to shield impressionable minds from the sordid activities and brutal violence that defined just about every period in the past. Over time, we’ve come to find many artists have taken it upon themselves to challenge these perceptions and pursue something that may not be entirely authentic (the further we go back in time, the less reliable our sources become, so nothing can ever be truly factual), but is still much closer to capturing the spirit of the past. They range between delightfully irreverent works aimed at younger viewers and those targeted at adult audiences, usually featuring an abundance of the qualities that were left out of the textbooks. A film that exists at the perfect intersection between the two is Seize Them!, in which director Curtis Vowell and screenwriter Andy Riley (the latter a tremendous satirist in his own right) take us back to the early medieval period, focusing on the trials and tribulations of a fictional Queen Dagan, who rules over her dominion with an iron-fist and a penchant for violence, but after a successful coup d’etat by the appropriately named rebel Humble Joan, she is overthrown and forced to flee, accompanied by a loyal servant and soon joined by a dimwitted peasant, the trio forming a close friendship necessitated by their shared desire to escape the terrifying wrath of their new leader, who is gradually going mad with power. Wickedly entertaining and always willing to push the boundaries within reason, Seize Them! is an exceptionally well-crafted period comedy that may not be entirely authentic (a deliberate choice, based on the entire story being fabricated for the sake of detaching it from reality), but more than makes up for it through being extremely entertaining, telling a fascinating story that highlights many unique elements of the past, delivering them in a meaningful, charming manner.

Seize Them! joins a long lineage of works that aim to blend comedy and history, which go back many centuries and have their roots at the very epicentre of drama as a medium of storytelling. This film is certainly not the first example of an ambitious glimpse into the past, and as a result is very much indebted to many other medieval comedies that have occupied both film and television over the decades. There is as much Monty Python and the Holy Grail in here as there is Horrible Histories and Blackadder, and is therefore designed to appeal to those groups who appreciate those kinds of oddball historical comedies that sacrifice authenticity for humour, which is not necessarily a bad approach, just one that needs to be appropriately tempered to make sure that what is being shown is consistent enough for it to at least partially exist within the realm of reality, or something as close an approximation to it as we are likely to get. Neither Vowell nor Riley have much experience with these kinds of settings, but it’s not an integral element of the film by any means – in fact, all that was required was a story that was at least somewhat recognisable, from which they are allowed to craft their own bespoke story. Seize Them! takes place in a fictional kingdom, and thus the filmmakers are not at all bound to fact, and can instead pursue an entirely original story, crafting it to fit their own ambitious ideals, never striving to be anything but genuinely consistent in its vision, particularly because there are elements to this film that come from a place of genuine appreciation for history, without which the story would not have resounded with any sense of sincerity, even through its decidedly fictional lens which guides the narrative and turns it into a wickedly entertaining little confection of a film that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and instead chooses to focus on creating something thoroughly enjoyable while still containing a fair amount of resonant commentary that gives it some depth.

Seize Them! is littered with familiar actors who are allowed to play these fascinating roles, which may be mostly broad archetypes that essentially act as nothing more than thinly-written representations of common medieval tropes, but which are still wildly entertaining when taken at face value, which is a good rule of thumb for this entire film. The central lead of the film is Queen Dagan, played splendidly by the criminally underrated Aimee Lou Wood, who has been doing exceptional work for years, but has rarely received the attention she deserves. Playing this megalomaniac of a monarch who undergoes a major shift in perspective after surviving a failed assassination attempt but is still forced off her throne, Wood is extremely effective, particularly in how her usually innocent, twee demeanour factors into the fabric of the character. Another wonderful actor who is rarely utilised as well as she should be is Lolly Adefope, who is the heart of the film, portraying this spirited and dedicated servant fully committed to protecting the woman she pledged loyalty to many years before, and who proves to be more than willing to follow through on this promise, even if it puts her in danger. Nick Frost rounds out the central trio, being as hilarious and irreverent as ever as the well-meaning but dimwitted peasant who proves to be an invaluable resource to our heroes. Conversely, the always compelling Nicola Coughlan plays the film’s central villain, a rebel-turned-tyrant who allows power to corrupt her, leading to a truly memorable performance from someone who is not used to playing the villain, but clearly thrives with such an eccentric, outrageously funny role. None of these performances is revolutionary in the traditional sense, but they’re united by a firm commitment to realising the underlying themes of the film, which benefits through their very strong work.

There are about the same amount of merits as there are shortcomings to be found scattered liberally throughout this film, which is about par for the course for the genre and how certain elements are usually stronger than others, and how it will inevitably stumble once it becomes clear that there isn’t always going to be consistency in how it presents its ideas. On the positive side, Seize Them! is thoroughly dedicated to replicating the appearance of the era – the locations are stunningly beautiful, and the production design and costuming are incredibly realistic, down to every muddy puddle and excrement-covered tunic, which proves that there was an abundance of effort that went into the creation of the film. It also presents a slightly more profane image of the past, which goes against the belief that this era was driven by puritanical values – if anything, history was far more vulgar than we could ever comprehend, and every aspect of this film aligns with this point. However, the flaws are equally as distinct – the premise starts very strong, and there is a sincere dedication to world-building and establishing the history of this fictional kingdom, but the film proves to be incapable of maintaining that attention to detail. The novelty begins to wear thin after some time, and the initially very strong concept eventually overstays its welcome once it becomes clear that the film is basically going to be playing a single note for its entire duration, rather than offering anything particularly diverse in terms of story development. This is a result of it not having a particularly strong point-of-view, nor any truly compelling underlying themes – it has a very obvious message that it does implement relatively well, but which is eventually proven to be far too limited to be entirely effective. It doesn’t invalidate the merits, but does make us wish it had been more audacious in the ideas it was presenting throughout, rather than hoping that it can sustain itself based on a very simple, surface-level premise.

Seize Them! is certainly not a major achievement in the traditional sense, and we’ve found that it occupies a genre that has countless tremendous entries, and to which it doesn’t make any particularly valuable contributions outside of being a well-crafted and often very funny comedy about a specific era in the past and the eccentric figures that would have likely occupied it, at least if we are looking at it from a perspective defined by common archetypes and beliefs about the period. There isn’t much in terms of historical accuracy, and the anachronisms are very clear to anyone with even the slightest working knowledge of the era, but once again authenticity was not mandatory for this film, with most of the effort going into replicating the medieval way of life, and then allowing the story to be infused with a more modern sensibility, replacing realism with accessibility and charm. It may often go for the low-hanging fruit, and its certainly true that there elements that could have been massively improved with some effort – but ultimately, Seize Them! is not striving to be particularly daring or unconventional, and every one of its merits are derived from its lovable nature and willingness to just be a fun, entertaining romp that takes us on a journey through the past, and offers us some genuinely compelling setpieces that are wildly entertaining, outrageously funny and oddly quite moving, which is more than enough when tackling a film of this nature, which has always thrived with more simple ideas at its core.