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A knight awakens in a carriage driven by Death, tormented by the memory of his execution. Consumed by a thirst for vengeance, nothing will stand in between his iron will and retribution.

I have a deep fascination with epic poetry and the Medieval Period. Fantastical representations of the medieval times often feel overly exaggerated for my taste, with magical wizards, flying dragons, and outlandish costume design. With this in mind, I wanted to reel in this genre to a more plausible, gritty reality.

I like to think of epic poems such as Beowulf as true stories. Since they weren't written down for thousands of years, each retelling was inevitably altered slightly by the storyteller. As a result, what we have today are much more colorful stories. With Wracu, I aim to capture this sense of plausibility within a fantastical world. In the film, the protagonist is executed and has a physical encounter with Death to bring himself back to life. A more accurate account may reveal the protagonist somehow survived the execution and was set free. Did the noose break, leading the king to interpret it as divine intervention? Another example is that the king appears to be nearly 12 feet tall. Maybe this imposing king was reasonably tall, but storytellers just love to exaggerate?

I love exploring these concepts when reading old-world legends by conjuring up alternative explanations for the more far-fetched elements. It lends these stories so much weight when grounding them in reality, and Wracu is my tribute to this idea.

But death is not easily
escaped from by anyone:
all of us with souls, earth-dwellers
and children of men, must make our way
to a destination already ordained
where the body, after the banqueting,
sleeps on its deathbed.

– Beowulf