I have a bad track record with Catholic and Christian movies. I sit down to watch them, hopeful and excited about the possibility of recommending it to others and even to feel comfortable recommending it to my non-Catholic friends because it was that good.
Usually, I walk away disappointed — bad acting, low budget, and creative liberties taken too far can often rob a beautiful biblical or saint story of its orthodoxy and beauty.
The Netflix original movie "Mary," about the Virgin Mother of God in the time leading up to and immediately after the birth of Christ, unfortunately, was not the exception.
The full-length film produced by American pastor and televangelist Joel Osteen begins with the birth of Mary, focusing on her parents, Sts. Anne and Joachim, and ends with Mary and Joseph fleeing on horseback with a newborn baby Jesus as soldiers at the behest of King Herod (played by Anthony Hopkins) try to chase them down.
The film draws heavily from a mix of biblical and extra-biblical sources to tell the story of Mary — particularly from the non-canonical Protoevangelium of James — taking a fair share of creative liberties that blur many lines between biblical chronology and Hollywood dramatization.
From the beginning of the movie, there is a dark, somber pall — the suspenseful music and dark cinematography, though objectively beautiful, made me question what story was actually being told. Hopkins’ portrayal of Herod is reminiscent of the dark madness of King Richard III, and the cameos of Lucifer and an uncharacteristically menacing St. Gabriel are equally unsettling. There is no “thrill of hope” for the weary world and definitely no rejoicing.
As a Catholic, I am no stranger to the reality of sin and darkness in the world today, and certainly don’t pretend that every biblical story is a happy one. I also do think it is worthy to reflect on the suffering Mary and Joseph must have endured, first with a pregnancy outside of marriage and then as they became refugees.
The director, DJ Caruso, said he hoped to humanize Mary to make her more accessible to people. The movie did well by portraying her struggles, her strength and her humanity. However, in doing so, it failed to capture the divine grace God uniquely bestowed upon Mary and instead emphasized the dark suffering cloud that seemed to hang over her throughout the movie.
However, what the movie failed to capture was that even in the suffering, there is a promise of hope — not only in the story of the Nativity but also in the story of Mary herself.
As individuals, we all suffer losses, unexpected hardships, family difficulties, frustrations and more. However, even as the suffering takes its toll on our personal and professional lives, we at Detroit Catholic are always reminded through the stories we help tell of the hope, beauty and joy that is always present in our Catholic faith.
This is the Gospel truth — that even in darkness, hope remains. Stories of faith, even in their dark or hard moments, should reflect that and remind people of the joy that awaits us all because a young girl said “yes” and a baby was born in a stable who would change the world.
For me, there isn’t room for an adaption like Netflix’s “Mary” in my Advent because it doesn’t remind me of the Gospel truth of hope.
Gabriella Patti is a staff reporter for Detroit Catholic and occasionally reviews popular movies, books and media.
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