An average movie

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie but since I have a weak spot for Rooney Mara and Joaquin Phoenix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, this movie was one of the victims in the Weinstein debacle as it was supposed to be released just around the time the scandal broke down. Eventually, it was released much later on by another studio but it was barely noticed. Anyway, it is basically a fairly classical biblical tale focusing this time on Mary Magdalene. As a result, you get the usual anti-Jewish vibe which is unfortunate but rather inherent to the genre, I’m afraid. What was more surprising was the fact they turned this classic story into some kind of feminist manifesto. Sure, the main point was to rehabilitate this woman who had been labelled as a prostitute for centuries (In fact, as we learn at the end of this movie, she had been officially rehabilitated by the Vatican only a few years ago) but the makers went way beyond then only showing that she had been a genuine apostle. Indeed, not only she wasn’t trusted by any other male apostle, according to this movie, she was apparently the only one who really understood Jesus which was a rather bold statement. Not only it was pretty much some kind of reverse sexism, above all, it made this character pretty much flawless and, therefore, a little bit underwhelming, especially since we already had Jesus who was arguably the most flawless human-being that ever lived. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.