To Kill a King is a 2003 English Civil War film directed by Mike Barker, and starring Tim Roth, Rupert Everett and Dougray Scott.

At the end of the English Civil Wars (1642-1651), the forces of Parliament, led by Thomas Fairfax (Dougray Scott) and his loyal deputy Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658, Lord Protector 1653–1658) (Tim Roth), are victorious, and the King, Charles I (Rupert Everett) is a prisoner.

Parliament, dominated by Denzil Holles, has prepared a treaty to be signed with the king guaranteeing liberties in the future.

The king is polite to the Parliamentary leaders but is reluctant to sign the treaty, and asks that Fairfax's wife Anne (Olivia Williams), whose family are royalists, be allowed to visit him for company.

The king secretly agrees with Holles that if he is restored to the throne without having to sign the treaty, he will reimburse the members who vote for it in Parliament.

Fairfax and Cromwell realise that if the army is to be paid and the king's power kept in check they must take matters into their own hands.

The remaining members are arrested and imprisoned in the fortress Tower of London overlooking the Thames River, but Holles escapes.

Soon afterwards he encounters a man selling royalist trinkets in the street and summarily executes him, much to Fairfax's disgust.

Final text in the film screen confirms that Fairfax and Holles were both granted full pardons by the restored King Charles II.

Eigil Bryld has a bleak, wintry look and subdued colors, heavy on ochres, off-reds and deep blacks, but his mobile camera and the lived-in look of the production and costume design give the film a physical feel that matches the perfs.

"This less extravagant voyage back to the 17th century and the English Civil War can't quite hold its own next to, say, the visually lavish likes of The Lion In Winter, but it certainly boasts a thoughtful and accessible script that engages with the political climate of the time.