The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Jessica Chastain, Matt Smith, Ismael Kanater, Caleb Landry Jones, Abbey Lee, Mourad Zaoui, Marie-Josée Croze, Alex Jennings, Saïd Taghmaoui, and Christopher Abbott.

After bringing the body of the deceased teenager, identified as Driss, to their friend Richard Galloway's house during a celebration, David agrees to report the death as accidental since he was driving intoxicated.

The film was announced in May 2018, to be written and directed by John Michael McDonagh, with Ralph Fiennes, Rebecca Hall, Mark Strong and Saïd Taghmaoui set to star.

[7] In October 2020, it was reported that Matt Smith, Christopher Abbott, Ismael Kanater, Alex Jennings, and Abbey Lee had joined the cast of the film, with Focus Features distributing worldwide excluding North America.

[17] Peter Debruge from Variety said the film was “undeniably wicked yet deliciously prickly... McDonagh loves his monsters.”[18] John Defore from Hollywood Reporter praised the film as "scripted, directed and acted with intelligence and panache.”[19] Pete Hammond from Deadline also praised the film as “a rare and thoroughly adult drama offering much to think about.”[20] Steve Pond of The Wrap concluded: "There's a lot of despicable stuff going on in this efficiently nasty drama from the Irish writer-director of The Guard and Calvary, but in the hands of McDonagh, Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain, you may actually find yourself caring for these people more than they care for themselves.

"[21] Pete Howell from The Toronto Star wrote: "A crack ensemble cast — including Matt Smith, Caleb Landry Jones and Canada's Marie-Josée Croze — and a wickedly smart screenplay amplify moral issues that gnaw at the mind.

"[22] Chris Bumbray from Joblo.com gave the film a 9 and predicted: "The Forgiven will likely open John Michael McDonagh up to a larger audience than he's got so far, thanks to the dynamic star turns by Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain.