MARY (2024)

MARY is a drama on Netflix about the mother of Jesus. Regrettably, most of the movie doesn’t follow the biblical story and contains bloody depictions of violence, with too much filler and slow moments, despite all the jeopardy.
It starts off in the desert with Mary’s father and mother, Joachim and Anne, in the desert praying for a child. A weird looking angel Gabriel appears and suggests they’re going to have a child. In spite of the biblical command not to have tattoos, many people and angels are tattooed. When Mary is born, she gets taken to the temple in Jerusalem and the temple seems to have a Mother Superior who puts her into convent-like conditions.* Several people recognize Mary’s special. She has a dialogue with Lucifer reminiscent of Jesus’ time in the desert. Then, she goes out and feeds the hungry.
While she’s washing her clothes, she meets Joseph, who asks for her hand in marriage. The angel Gabriel comes to Mary saying she’s going to have a baby. It’s not clear whether Gabriel also comes to Joesph, like in the original Gospel accounts. So, there’s lots of confusion regarding the story of the birth of Jesus.
Mary leaves the convent-like conditions in the temple. Then, Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem, and Herod decides to kill all the babies. The Roman troops burn the houses and kill people, with lots of bloody violent. Mary’s mother says they must return to the temple.
Although this overview sounds close to the biblical story, most of the events taking place are extra biblical. As if that’s not enough deterrent, the movie has a tremendous amount of invention, including Herod having a crown of thorns, putting it on a priest and gouging out his eyes.
Despite the violence and jeopardy in MARY, the movie appears slow in many places. It has paint-by-numbers exciting moments, then a lot of filler. Why people decided to make a TV-14 movie about Mary is inexplicable.
So, overall, MARY is excessively unbiblical and confused. So, it may confuse many people who watch it. There are much better movies on the topic, including JOURNEY TO BETHLEMEM.
* According to Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary was born in Jerusalem. Also, some apocryphal writings say she was presented at age three to the Temple there, where she took a vow of chastity, or virginity. Historical Protestant churches, however, teach that Mary had children with Joseph after Jesus was born. Some apocryphal writings also say that Mary’s father owned a house located near the Temple and near the pool of Bethsaida, where Jesus later performed an important miracle and declared His divinity. Also, some Church Fathers, such as St. Gregory of Nyssa, taught that Mary’s parents prayed for her to be born.