Mary is Netflix’s take on the somewhat out-of-fashion Biblical swords and sandals film. The film follows Mary from her conception all the way up to the birth of Jesus. However, this conventional tale is not all it seems, as Mary addresses the audience in the opening scene, we do not know her story. It is a film that tries to expand the Biblical lore, most notably by showing the parents of Mary, who pray to God for a child, with Gabriel turning up to inform them they will be gifted a daughter like no other, one who will fulfil Isaiah’s prophecy.
The film then follows Mary as she grows up to become the mother of Jesus. Alongside, is Herod, played by a particularly tired Anthony Hopkins, who rules over Judea with an Iron fist, a ruler who proclaims he is King of the Jews, but is also a puppet master for the Roman Empire, protected by his Pretorian guards. Throughout the film, Herod takes particular notice of Mary, especially in one particular stare-off of rebellion which he tries to snuff out.
The Biblical Epic (for lack of a better word) feels way too sprawling in nature. Wafting in waves of moments ripped from the Bible without any depth, nuance, detail or intrigue. Quickly travelling from the birth of Mary to her sudden ageing through childhood, the film takes little to no time to explore the character, with it basically being a Spark Notes summary of the Bible as it crams in as much coverage as possible in 100 minutes.
Director DJ Caruso blatantly misunderstands the tone of the film, trying to go for something grander, dropping the Inception booms through scenes of tension, like the biblical equivalent of hosting a rock concert in a library. And the film is a library – an absolute snooze fest that hams everything up to 11, it’s overdramatic, yet still a poorly acted and drab affair. A complete mess that leaves you asking – what is the point of the film.
The biggest problem with the film however is that Mary is a character without agency. For a figure so important, she is a seriously bland and baseless character in a film that takes her name. She is sold to her husband Joseph by her parents, she is sent to the church and then kicked out, and rarely makes a decision to suggest she has a special aura to be chosen by God. Although there are some moments, such as when she gives food to the poor, its portrayal of Mary is a confused hodge-podge in what often feels like a B Movie
Despite its proclamation that the audience doesn’t know Mary’s story, the film has little or nothing interesting to say, and at times painfully hitting the beats of the Bible. Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins, the only name of note here, looks as if he’s been held hostage in this low-quality Netflix flick. He looks tired, reading the lines to get them over with. It is no surprise that this got nowhere near a cinema.
Although Mary has some interesting ideas with light, especially a bright white light shining over Mary to show her importance to God, the film fails to create an interesting character, relying on tired, backwards tropes to tell its story.
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