Mary: A Film Review

“Jesus honored her before all ages and will honor her for all ages. No one comes to Him, nor even near Him, no one is saved or sanctified, if he too will not honor her. This is the lot of Angels and of men.” – St. Maximilian Kolbe

There isn’t a day when I don’t seek her, run to her or ask for her guidance, intentionally or unintentionally. St. Thérèse of Lisieux once said, “In trial or difficulty, I have recourse to Mother Mary, whose glance alone is enough to dissipate every fear.” During the season of Advent, we can feel Mary’s warm presence as a loving and beautiful mother. We can picture her while gazing upon sacred Christmas art, or our sanctuary’s manger scene, illuminated and glowingly beautiful with child—the Light of the World. There is no better time to bring prayers to her, or to seek her in every instance, especially as we approach the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

I was thrilled to learn that a film about our Blessed Mother would be released at the start of this liturgical season, during a very important time of the Church year—through the mainstream media.

The Blessed Virgin, on Screen

Debuting and streaming today, December 6, on Netflix, Catholic director DJ Caruso brings us Anthony Hopkins as King Herod and Noa Cohen as Mary, in a dramatic telling of what he describes as the story of history’s greatest heroine. I was grateful for the opportunity to view the film prior to its release to write a review through an honest Catholic lens. 

I very much looked forward to the film, given my personal devotion to our Blessed Mother. After seeing the initial previews, I was intrigued to find out how filmmakers could even come close to bringing her majesty to life in only an hour and 52 minutes. I was hopeful, thinking that if it depicted even a grain of her maternal love for humanity, it would shine in comparison to what’s currently trending in the media. Most of what we view these days needs our mother’s love to bring the light of Christ into every home, into our domestic churches. 

I learned early in the film that it is a modern coming-of-age story that focuses on fictional details regarding our Blessed Mother and her relationship with St. Joseph prior to, and shortly after, the birth of Christ. This emphasis comes at a cost, as it is instead of honoring Mary as she deserves.

The film begins with a distant view of the beautiful Noa Cohen, who plays Mary, and Ido Tako, who plays St. Joseph, in a desolate desert. As the camera angle centers, focuses, and gets closer, viewers experience Mary’s grace and bravery, gazing into her eyes. She is dressed in muted tones and swaddling Jesus, as her words echo as if coming to viewers in a prayer or dream.

This introduction reminded me of St. Joan of Arc and how she may have imitated Mary’s fiat when she said in battle, “I am not afraid, I was born to do this.” The stage is then set for what the film captures throughout: a strong, brave, and heroic young girl who embraces her “yes” to bring the Savior into the world. It is a rare and never-seen portrayal of Mary on screen that may intrigue young audiences—and one that may challenge the worldview of traditional Catholic imagery.

St. Joseph, the Foster Father of Jesus

As the film progresses, St. Joseph becomes a genuine earthly father and loving spouse devoted to Mary. We initially see him infatuated by Mary’s beauty as he wades in water, falling over himself in love with her on first glance, believing that they are destined to be together. Although we don’t know any of the actual words St. Joseph spoke, nor the details of how they grew to know one another, I felt that the depiction was simple but full of the holy love that they would have shared. Throughout the film, St. Joseph is depicted as devoted to Mary, which is my favorite part of the entire sequence of events and overall character portrayal in this film. I don’t always feel like Joseph receives the attention he deserves, and, although the film is based on speculation, it is exactly how I imagine him.

Evil Portrayed Throughout the Film

Another aspect of this film that was done well and important to highlight was its portrayal of evil, which brought attention to the fact that through the darkness, Mary triumphs as the Mother of God, perfect in goodness and grace, over all evil.

Often, in film, we can only infer that there is evil present, or we may see fire, visions of hell, or what one would describe as a dark “creature.” This film gives Lucifer a human body, giving viewers an image for how Mary is the devil’s enemy in every form he takes, even in our own everyday lives.

We can also see this imagery  through the film’s fictional visions of Mary that King Herod has prior to and after the birth of Christ. Again, these scenes are all speculation and inference, but they further emphasize the goodness and power God gives Mary over all forms of evil, ultimately showing us that goodness will always triumph.

Mary the Queen of Heaven

I believe that this film will bring light to viewers who do not know the Christian faith or who have fallen away. It may open the door to conversations regarding the truth of Mary’s grace. Its goal, I believe, is to appeal to audiences and bring Mary’s story into more peoples’ lives during Advent.

In my mind, however, the mystery of our Blessed Mother should be left to our own inward reflections and visions of her through prayer. When we begin to try to relate to the masses, we often have to change the truth. Mary’s fiat in this film was changed from “let it be done unto me” to “let it be me”. Mary, the Mother of God, is meant to be majestic and holy, and as practicing Catholics, we should meet her and her true fiat with piety and wonder. Our Catholic faith is difficult to understand and meant to inspire awe. When the day comes, if it is God’s will that we should meet her, only then will we begin to feel like we can relate to her.

In St. John Paul II’s Letter to Women, issued on June 29, 1995, he stated: 

The Church sees in Mary the highest expression of the ‘feminine genius’ and she finds in her a source of constant inspiration. Mary called herself the ‘handmaid of the Lord’ (Lk 1:38). Through obedience to the Word of God she accepted her lofty yet not easy vocation as wife and mother in the family of Nazareth. Putting herself at God’s service, she also put herself at the service of others: a service of love. Precisely through this service Mary was able to experience in her life a mysterious, but authentic “reign”. It is not by chance that she is invoked as “Queen of heaven and earth”. The entire community of believers thus invokes her; many nations and peoples call upon her as their “Queen”. For her, “to reign” is to serve! Her service is “to reign”!

This is the way in which authority needs to be understood, both in the family and in society and the Church. Each person’s fundamental vocation is revealed in this “reigning”, for each person has been created in the “image” of the One who is Lord of heaven and earth and called to be his adopted son or daughter in Christ.

The maternal ‘reign’ of Mary consists in this. She who was, in all her being, a gift for her Son, has also become a gift for the sons and daughters of the whole human race, awakening profound trust in those who seek her guidance along the difficult paths of life on the way to their definitive and transcendent destiny. Each one reaches this final goal by fidelity to his or her own vocation; this goal provides meaning and direction for the earthly labours of men and women alike.

If you watch this film, do so with an open heart and mind as you continue to prepare for the coming of Christ into the world at Christmas—but more so to pray for the intercession of the Blessed Mother and revere her as the true Queen of Heaven.