| Category: | Movies |
| Genre: | Mystery & Suspense |
Set in Dickensian London, it tells the tale of Benjamin Barker, a naive barber who is transported for life to Botany Bay on a trumped-up charge. After 15 years of torture, he escapes with the aid of a youthful sailor named Anthony Hope, and returns to London only to find his wife dead, and his daughter Johanna the ward of Judge Turpin, the man who sent Barker to Botany Bay in order to have his way with his wife 15 years prior.
He changes his name to Sweeney Todd and reopens his barbershop above the bakery of Mrs. Lovett, a loony woman who makes the (self-avowed) "worst pies in London." With Mrs. Lovett's help, Todd vows to avenge his wife's death by killing the Judge.
Meanwhile, Judge Turpin, in a fit of jealousy, has resolved to marry Johanna. However, she and Anthony secretly fall in love and make plans to elope. Anthony confides in Todd about his scheme to carry away Johanna to the other end of England, unaware of the fact that Johanna is Todd's daughter.
Having seduced the Judge into his barbershop, Todd is a razorstroke away from vengeance when Anthony bursts in, praising his love for Johanna. The Judge, incensed at both Anthony and Sweeney, vows to never return to the barbershop, and to hide Johanna away where neither may ever find her.
Broken and furious over his missed opportunity, Todd vows vengeance against all mankind until he can finally kill the Judge. As he begins to slit the throats of unsuspecting customers, Mrs. Lovett comes up with the ingenious idea of disposing of the bodies by baking them into pies. As Mrs. Lovett's business blossoms (with the help of her mentally dull assistant, Tobias), her romantic fixations on Todd grow, but Todd remains resolutely focused revenge.
After discovering Johanna's location, Todd sets into motion a series of events in which he can reunite with Johanna and finally kill the Judge. However, when a crazed beggar woman appears in his barbershop moments before the Judge's arrival, Todd is forced to slit her throat in haste, depositing her body in the basement as the Judge enters his parlor.
Todd finally kills the Judge, but Lovett's screams bring Todd down to the basement, where he finds her cowering over the Beggar Woman's body. On closer inspection, Todd discovers that the Beggar Woman was, in fact, his wife Lucy - having gone mad 15 years prior after poisoning herself.
Furious, Todd hurls Mrs. Lovett into the furnace then, despondent, clutches his wife's dead body. Tobias, having gone mad from witnessing the dead bodies in the basement, slits Todd's throat, knowing revenge is all Todd understands.
