Rhona Mitra is one of the stars of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, but only in the sense that three characters dominate the movie’s run, and she happens to be one of them. Michael Sheen and Bill Nighy steal the movie, and it is one of the most shocking things I’ve seen in quite some time.
Rise of the Lycans takes place several hundred years before the events of the first two films, and gives us the backstory we’ve already had explained to us in those films. Lucian is a Lycan, and he is a slave to Viktor’s coven. The Lycan’s work in chains, serving the vampires in a variety of capacities. A select few are given slightly better treatment, and when Lucian manages to save Viktor’s daughter, Sonja, he is somewhat elevated in status.
Unbeknownst to Viktor, but beknownst to the audience in fine detail barely after we get out of the gates, Lucian and Sonja are having an affair. Once we have that game firmly underway, the rest of the film plays out much as might be expected. Slaves try to escape. Rulers try to keep them in.