The film centers on a basic premise: near Lima, Peru, at noon of Friday, 20 July 1714, a bridge woven by the Incas a century earlier collapsed at that particular moment, while five people were crossing it: Doña María, the Marquess of Montemayor; Pepita, her lady in attendance; Esteban, a scribe; Uncle Pío; and a young child. The collapse was witnessed by Brother Juniper, a Franciscanfriar, who was on his way to cross it.
Curious about why God would allow such a tragedy, he decides to take a scientific approach to the question. He set out to interview everyone he can find who knew the five victims. Over the course of six years, he has managed to compile a huge book, coming to the question whether we live our lives according to a plan or if there is no such thing as a bigger scheme.
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 4% based on reviews from 24 critics. The site's consensus states: "Despite an all-star cast and some impressive visuals, The Bridge of San Luis Rey is a lifeless, slow-going adaptation of Thornton Wilder's classic novel."[4]
Stephen Garrett of Time Out wrote, "Why do good actors pop up in bad movies? More perplexingly, why do so many good actors end up in the same bad movie?",[5] and Desson Thomas of The Washington Post wrote, "Even though director-adaptor Mary McGuckian expended much creative energy trying to pump original spirit into the characters, she never brings any of them to life."[6]
In 2022 it was announced that the film had been recut, remastered, and rescored in order to restore it to the version based on the original script including 40 minutes of previously unseen footage. The Bridge of San Luis Rey Remastered was released on digital by Giant Pictures across North America.[citation needed]
