It can be rarely said that a story is as “old as time.” Some of them have been passed on as a form of truth, from one generation to the next, and others have become widely-accepted as a “tall tale,” simply written to teach a moral lesson and nothing more. Growing up, I was taught several Bible verses, from the Gospel of the New Testament, which were meant to be conveyed as the truth and I readily accepted that with almost no hesitation. Just as we all had our favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or X-Men characters, those of us who learned the stories of the Bible had our favorites, as well. It was easy to see the appeal of someone like Samson (a man of tremendous, physical strength) or Jonah (a coward who was literally swallowed by a whale before being spit ashore, still alive), but as a Christian, there is one who will always stand taller than the rest: Jesus Christ.

Jesus had a consistent crowd wherever he travelled, especially into his adult years. Among them, there were 12, known as his disciples. Some of them went on to lay down their lives for the cause of their beliefs and unwavering faith in Christ and for this, they are well-remembered. However, there are still others, who also followed Jesus, fervently, or made a memorable statement or displayed a noticeable action that cannot be denied. The Old Testament has its distinction of minor prophets among the greater ones. For lack of a better term, perhaps these individuals could be categorized as “minor disciples.” One, specifically, has garnered significant attention in recent years: Mary Magdalene.

Although many are familiar with her name, Mary has tended to carry some negative labels, which could be argued as, both, sexist or just plain ignorant. I want to be clear about something: Jesus Christ should remain the focal point for Christianity, but before anyone complains about centering a Biblical film around one of his followers, compared to the leader, himself, just think back to a classic, claymation movie of the past, “The Little Drummer Boy.” Almost no one finds this story offensive and it is not even based on a real person. So, if you are going to approve of that, but not “Mary Magdalene,” please explain what your justification is and just move along.

Garth Davis (“Lion”) has come back into the realm of directing, acquiring the script of this movie, written by Helen Edmundson (“An Inspector Calls”) and Philippa Goslett (“How to Talk to Girls at Parties”). Heading the cast are: Rooney Mara (“A Ghost Story”) as the titular character, Joaquin Phoenix (“You Were Never Really Here”) as Jesus Christ, Chiwetel Ejiofor (“Doctor Strange”) as Peter and Tahar Rahim (“The Looming Tower”) as Judas. The list goes on, with most of the documented 12 disciples being represented in some capacity, as well as the family and immediate community of Magdalene, prior to her escape to Christ’s side, so to speak.

Something I noticed very early on was that I was having a little bit of trouble hearing the dialogue clearly. It appeared to be a sound mixing issue, but did not remain throughout the movie, either. Something I also wondered about was the source material for the background story of Mary. Not much is known about her in the actual Gospels, but I expect that plenty of reliable (and some unreliable) information about her exists in the world, after all these years.

There is a moment, while she is still amongst her people, that I found clever from a directorial standpoint: she is “treated” for demonic possession, but very little is actually said. This allows us, the viewers, to see what is transpiring from a more subjective lens and I thought it was a good decision to shoot it that way. It goes without saying that the role of women has changed a great deal, over the centuries.

Beyond what is written in the Scriptures, we can only imagine what the personal interactions might have been like between Jesus and his followers, including the likes of Mary. Therefore, some of what is depicted in this film is not directly lifted from the Bible, but the most important, historical moments are on full display, including the miracles of Christ and his violent crucifixion. The ultimate portrayal of Jesus is unusual by comparison to most films based on this person. He seems overwhelmed, at times, and genuinely vulnerable, all while in the midst of showcasing beautiful teachings and miraculous wonders.

The intense level of imagery will probably turn some viewers off; those who have predictable expectations, going into this movie. At some level, I think it could be argued that too much humanity was introduced into the character of Christ and a lack of depth was reciprocated among the other people in the story, including that of Magdalene.

I am grateful that filmmakers still wish to make movies pertaining to characters and stories from the Bible, but regardless of the sub-genre, there are good films and there are bad ones. “Mary Magdalene” does not quite merit the level of being good. I liked the apparent casting decision to bring in a mix of black and white actors, while we all know that these people were all somewhere in between that, in real life. I thought that the pacing suffered, late into the film, but I also wondered what could have actually been done to change that. Maybe the extraneous scenes involving Mary and the other disciples old have been cut, in favor of just having the moments between Jesus and Mary.

We already know that women were not treated by men as they are now, but we also “know” that Jesus Christ would not make the same mistakes that the rest of us make. At least that much was shown in “Mary Magdalene.”

Director: Garth Davis
Screenwriters: Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett
Starring: Rooney Mara, Joaquin Phoenix, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tahar Rahim, Sarah-Sofie Boussnina as Martha, Hadas Yaron as Sarah, Lubna Azabal as Susannah, Lior Raz as Magdala Community Leader and Ryan Corr as Joseph
Music: Hildur Guonadottir and Johann Johannsson (Final Film, RIP)
Distributors: Focus Features and IFC Films
Release: April 12th, 2019 (US)