In fourteenth-century Sweden, a knight returns from the Crusades to find Europe ravaged by the black death. Journeying through a land stricken by destruction, the knight is visited by Death himself. He challenges the grim figure to a game of chess, hoping to bargain for the ultimate prize: his life.

One of the essential pieces in world cinema, this film has likely not been watched as often as it has been referenced in film history! Bergman’s high-concept tale of a man confronting existential despair is a riveting philosophical journey through the nooks and crannies of faith, death, and chess.