Historical accuracies should be the last thing in your mind upon streaming Netflix’s biblical epic Mary. Sure, director D.J. Caruso went as far as selecting an Israeli actress to portray the titular character in the name of authenticity played by relative newcomer Noa Cohen, whose only feature film credit was under-the radar 2022 drama Silent Game.
But in a biblical movie that opens with Mary’s voiceover narration: “You may think you know my story. Trust me, you don’t,” you might figure this curiously hip and modern dialogue looks as if Caruso aims to please today’s era of moviegoers. As it turns out, as per National Catholic Register interview with Caruso last month, he did want “to inspire, particularly younger viewers [and because of] a lot of what she went through is contemporary and what’s happening in the world today.”
And yet, despite all the noble intentions, Mary turns out to be a disappointment. A biblical disappointment of an epic proportion, to be exact that Caruso’s decision to overly dramatizing the story of Mary reminds me of how Ridley Scott barely cared about the disgruntled historians thought about his recent historical epics such as the latter’s Napoleon last year. But at least Scott has an eye for epic visuals and knows how to make a commercially entertaining picture.
By contrast, Caruso’s direction is rather pedestrian that no wonder Mary goes straight to streaming rather than a major theatrical release. The story – credited to relative newcomer Timothy Michael Hayes, the co-writer for 2021’s Sarogeto – tries to encompass everything, albeit in a streamlined manner. It started with Joachim (Ori Pfeffer) walking through the desert for forty days while repenting and abstaining from food. He believes that he and his wife Anne (Hilla Vidor) are childless as an act of God’s punishment. Joachim’s sacrifice eventually pays off when a mysterious man in a blue robe named Gabriel (Dudley O’Shaughnessy) shows up out of nowhere, telling him that “God will gift you with a daughter.” But with the condition that Joachim’s daughter will dedicate her life to the service of God.
The daughter in question is Mary after Anne successfully gave birth to a baby girl a few months later. From there, the movie journeys from her happy childhood to her eventual adulthood as a young woman living in the Second Temple in Jerusalem to serve God as promised. Cohen’s Mary is portrayed as a kind and gentle soul who wouldn’t mind giving food to the poor citizens. The actress certainly has the right angelic, yet humble look playing the titular character.
It’s just too bad Hayes’ screenplay does her little favor with insipid storytelling, not to mention suffering from languid pacing even for a movie that runs a little under two hours. The story subsequently sets her up in an unbelievable meet-cute moment with Joseph (Ido Tako), where he falls in love with her at first sight. The whole romance angle between Mary and Joseph feels awkwardly misplaced like it belongs to a contemporary romantic drama.
Then, there’s the focus pivoting over to King Herod played by the scenery-chewing Anthony Hopkins, a tyrannical ruler of Judea, whose strictly iron-fisted rule shows no mercy or compassion even for the Second Temple’s head priest, Bava Ben Buta (Mehmet Kurtulus). The movie, of course, includes Mary’s eventual pregnancy and the birth of a baby boy named Jesus in Bethlehem. The birth proves to be an act of miracle from God as many pilgrims and followers believe he’s the chosen savior, which in turn, anger King Herod and prompts him to order his soldiers led by Marcellus (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson) to track down the baby at all costs.
This leads to a third act where Caruso tries to amp up the tension with a few sword fights and violent stabbing but the added action scenes can’t help much to elevate Mary from mediocrity. I get that Caruso wanted to frame his picture like an epic historical action-adventure with a dash of supernatural elements, evidently in the manipulative devil-in-disguise Lucifer trying to seduce Mary.
But for all the typically percussive score and ambitious storytelling, the so-called epic quality deflated with less-than-engaging moments. There is also a coming-of-age angle seen from Mary’s journey and how her noble sacrifice to fulfill God’s prophecy is sadly lacking in dramatic and emotional conflicts. A story about the Virgin Mary certainly deserves a better screen treatment than this missed opportunity.
Mary is currently streaming on Netflix worldwide.
