Medieval Mystery

John Turturro and Rupert Everett star in a new adaptation of Umberto Eco’s 14th-century-set whodunit

- Hannah Davies, Ian Macewan

For Game of Thrones fans missing the show’s mix of violence and medieval skulduggery, the arrival of a new screen version of Umberto Eco’s best-selling 1980 novel, The Name of the Rose, is timely.

Previously made into a 1986 film starring Sean Connery, the eight-part adaptation of the book has been a labor of love for Emmy-nominated The Night Of actor John Turturro.

MONASTIC MISDEEDS

The 14th-century story centers on Franciscan friar William of Baskerville (Turturro), who travels with novice Adso (Damian Hardung) to a Benedictine monastery in northern Italy to help resolve a theological dispute between the Pope and an order of friars. When illustrator Adelmo of Otranto dies in the monastery, William is instructed by Abbot Abo (Person of Interest’s Michael Emerson) to investigate his death.