Matthew Hopkins, an opportunistic witch hunter operating in 1645 during the English Civil War, exploits a society teetering on chaos to unleash a brutal reign of terror across East Anglia. Accompanied by his relentless assistant, John Stearne, he travels from village to village to extract confessions from those suspected of witchcraft, charging local magistrates for the grisly “work” they perform.
Richard Marshall is a young Roundhead who survives a skirmish and, in the process, kills his first enemy soldier, saving his Captain. He rides home to Brandeston, Suffolk, to visit his lover, Sara, the niece of John Lowes, the village priest. Lowes grants Marshall permission to marry Sara but warns that trouble is coming and urges protection for her. Sara explains they have been threatened and cast out, and Marshall vows to shield her. When his army leave ends, he heads back to join his regiment, only to cross paths with Hopkins and Stearne on the road and gesture them toward Brandeston before continuing on.
In Brandeston, Hopkins and Stearne waste no time and begin rounding up suspects. John Lowes is accused at his home and subjected to torture, with needles driven into his back in an effort to locate the so-called “Devil’s Mark.” Just as Lowes is about to be killed, Sara offers Hopkins a sexual favor in exchange for her uncle’s safety. Hopkins departs to other duties, and Stearne seizes the opportunity to rape Sara. When Hopkins returns, he orders Stearne to resume torturing Lowes. Before they leave the village, Hopkins and Stearne execute Lowes and two other women.
Marshall returns to Brandeston, aghast at what has happened to Sara, and swears to kill Hopkins and Stearne. He marries Sara in a self-made ceremony and instructs her to flee to Lavenham, then rides off alone. Meanwhile, Hopkins and Stearne have grown separated after a Roundhead patrol tries to seize their horses. Marshall tracks Stearne, and after a brutal confrontation, Stearne escapes and rejoins Hopkins, who informs him of Marshall’s desire for vengeance.
The two hunters press on to the village of Lavenham. Learning they are nearby, Marshall speeds there with a group of soldiers, but Hopkins has laid a trap, knowing Sara is in the town. He and Stearne frame Marshall and Sara as witches and transport them to a castle for interrogation. Marshall witnesses Sara being tortured with needles, yet he refuses to confess to witchcraft and remains determined to kill Hopkins. Freeing himself from his bonds, he attacks Stearne, slamming him to the ground as his comrades approach the dungeon.
The room fills with shock as Marshall seizes an axe and strikes Hopkins repeatedly. The soldiers rush in, horrified by their comrade’s actions. Trooper Swallow fires at Hopkins, shooting him dead to end the brutal ordeal. Mind fractured by the events, Marshall screams, > You took him from me! You took him from me! <, a cry that echoes through Sara’s own spiral toward madness as she screams again and again.
In the wake of the violence, the village is left to reckon with the cost of fear, power, and vengeance, and the film closes on the lingering toll these events have taken on those who survived the darkest days of the witch-hunt.
