Review: 'The Oath' is an overwrought melodrama that tries — and fails — to hide its Latter-day Saint roots

The historical drama “The Oath” is quite a mess, a jumble of abbreviated action and stilted storytelling that, I’m guessing, will leave neither the movie’s built-in audience — members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who will recognize the source material — or anyone else satisfied.

As the title cards inform us, the story begins with a grudge, with two groups of people continuing an ancient war that has left one side down to a solitary survivor, called “the hunted one.” The title cards also tell us that it’s the fourth century A.D., in ancient America. And, we are told, the survivor’s name is Moroni.

OK, a quick bit of Latter-day Saint information, because it’s not said outright in the movie: Moroni was a prophet, son of Mormon — for whom the Book of Mormon is named. The movie does mention that this Moroni is named after Captain Moroni, but doesn’t mention the captain’s prominence in the book.

This movie’s Moroni — played by Darin Scott, who’s also the movie’s director and, with his wife, Michelle, the screenwriter — says he was a fearsome military commander for the Nephites, who have battled the Lamanites for centuries. But Moroni is now the last Nephite, trying to stay out of the clutches of the Lamanite leader, King Aaron (played by “Titanic” bad guy Billy Zane).

The bulk of the movie centers on Moroni finding a woman in the woods. She is Bathsheba (Nora Dale), who has recently escaped the Lamanite camp, where she was forced to be one of King Aaron’s concubines. Moroni nurses the battered Bathsheba back to health, and slowly gains her trust. Over time, she falls in love with Moroni for his gentleness, and his promise never to hurt her.

Bathsheba is curious about the strange golden plates Moroni hides in his cave, but he keeps them from her. He does show her a scroll, on which is written a log of Moroni’s ancestors.

Meanwhile, King Aaron has sent his best tracker — Bathsheba’s older sister, Mahigana (played by Karina Lombard, from “Legends of the Fall”) — to bring back the wayward Bathsheba. 

Scott’s direction can be described best as overdramatic, which nearly compensates for how underwhelming he is as an actor. That’s not to say he’s subtle, as every emotional beat is telegraphed well ahead of its landing. That said, the movie looks lush, thanks to cinematographer Brian O’Carroll’s work capturing the beautiful scenery; the movie was filmed in upstate New York, in the vicinity of where this story is said to have happened.

The confounding part of “The Oath” is that the script seems to be written in code. The name of the source material, the Book of Mormon, is referred to as “the fourth most influential book in American history” — but mentioned by name only in small type in the closing credits. It’s like Scott is trying to put something over on his audience, but he doesn’t have the confidence or skill to hide it cleverly. 

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‘The Oath’

★1/2

Opens Friday, December 8, in theaters. Rated PG-13 for violent content. Running time: 104 minutes.