Oftentimes it’s unseen forces that can waylay the most promising projects. Garth Davis’ Mary Magdalene had all of the pieces to be a sure-fire awards contender last year. Davis was coming off his Oscar-nominated drama Lion; and headling the cast were Rooney Mara in the title role and Joaquin Phoenix as Jesus Christ. Hard to argue the potential there, but when The Weinstein Company folded after Harvey’s multiple scandals, many projects hit the skids without distribution.
Fortunately, IFC Films swooped in to the rescue and now we have the new trailer ahead of the film’s release next month. This is a grounded take on the Biblical story of Mary Magdalene, an unhappy woman who finds renewed purpose following the outsider Jesus Christ.
If it resembles a romance that’s because the story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus is at its core a love story. How far Davis intends to take that we’ll just have to wait and find out, but this looks very powerful to me and could be the first real Oscars player to emerge in 2019.
Also starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Tahar Rahim, and Ariane Labed, Mary Magdalene hits theaters on April 12th and VOD a week later.
