Movie · 1986 · Drama, Thriller, Mystery · 2h 10m · R · English
Curator score: 5.2/10 (227.9K ratings)
Who, in the name of God, is getting away with murder?
Overview
14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.2/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.69/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Metacritic: 54
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Production
Cristaldifilm, Les Films Ariane, ZDF, RAI, Constantin Film
Cast
Sean Connery, Christian Slater, Helmut Qualtinger, Elya Baskin, Michael Lonsdale, Volker Prechtel, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., William Hickey, Michael Habeck, Urs Althaus, Valentina Vargas, Ron Perlman, Leopoldo Trieste, Franco Valobra, Vernon Dobtcheff, Donald O'Brien, Andrew Birkin, F. Murray Abraham, Lucien Bodard, Peter Berling
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A moody, intelligent medieval murder mystery with strong atmosphere, a memorable central detective, and a satisfying blend of theology, suspense, and historical grime. It can feel stiff or overstuffed at times, but the world-building and intellectual cat-and-mouse make it distinctive.
Best for
viewers who like cerebral mysteries
fans of historical thrillers
people drawn to dark, candlelit period atmosphere
audiences who enjoy detective stories with philosophical stakes
Skip if
you want fast-paced plotting
you dislike heavy religious or academic debate
you prefer warm or character-light period pieces
you are put off by dated 1980s pacing and style
Overview
The Name of the Rose is one of those rare historical mysteries that feels genuinely lived-in: damp stone, candle smoke, ink, and fear. Jean-Jacques Annaud turns a medieval monastery into a pressure cooker, where every corridor seems to hide a secret and every argument about doctrine feels like a matter of life and death. Sean Connery gives the film its anchor as William, a detective-monk whose calm intelligence cuts through the surrounding superstition and panic.
Worth noting
What makes it stand out is how seriously it treats ideas. This is not just a whodunit; it is a story about knowledge, censorship, power, and the danger of laughter in a world built on authority. The film can be uneven, and some of its choices are blunt or lurid, but the atmosphere is so strong that the rough edges become part of the experience.
Bottom line
If you like mysteries that are more about thought than twists, and period films that embrace mud, menace, and moral conflict, this is an easy recommendation. It is old-fashioned in some ways, but that also gives it a strange, durable charm.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Flor (4★) · 1985 likes
sherlock holmes and his twink watson
Dante (4★) · 918 likes
ok so like was Umberto Eco gay or just Italian
David Sims (4★) · 512 likes
William of Baskerville goes hard as a detective name
Tom's Movies (4★) · 505 likes
I'm stumped by this bizarre detective story set in an Italian monastery in the year 1327. The acting, the casting, the pacing, it's all way off, and yet it never dips below enjoyable. From the very first few moments you know you're in for good time, and that does indeed turn out to be the case. That sex scene, however, has left me a little scarred.
Newt Sattler (3.5★) · 454 likes
damn they had ugly ass hair and weren’t allowed to laugh? brutal
2021 · History, Drama, Action · 2h 33m · R · Curator 6.4/10 (550.5K ratings) · Where to watch: Hulu, fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential
A grim historical investigation into truth, power, and violence, told with procedural rigor.