Mary Magdalene review round-up - what the critics are saying about new religious drama: 'Its pulse is hard to locate'

The film will be released in the UK in the run-up to Easter

The latest biblical film to hit cinema screens is Mary Magdalene, a depiction of one of "the most misunderstood spiritual figures in history" starring Rooney Mara.

Having no doubt been lined up as an potential awards contender, the film - from Lion director Garth Davis - was pulled from release in the US due to its Weinstein Co distribution; its fate there remains uncertain.

In the UK, however, it'll be released in time for Easter after being picked up by Universal - and the critics are finally giving their verdicts praising the film's intentions but ultimately feeling the end product misses its desire mark. The majority of praise has been reserved for Joaquin Phoenix's portrayal of Jesus Christ.

Mary Magdalene also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tahar Rahim.

The Guardian - Peter Bradshaw - 2 stars

"This movie, from screenwriters Helen Edmundson and Philippa Goslett and director Garth Davis, sets itself a bold task: to rescue Mary Magdalene from an age-old tradition of patriarchal condescension and misinterpretation. And yet it winds up embracing a solemn, softly-spoken and slow-moving Christian piety of its own."

Variety - Guy Lodge

"It’s not Jesus’s feelings we’re primarily concerned with, after all, but those of his once-maligned female disciple, whose voice and agency in the founding of Christianity are here given their admiring due. Hushed, deliberate and realised with considerable care and beauty, the resulting film has its heart entirely in the right place; its pulse, unfortunately, is far harder to locate."

Screen International - Fionnuala Halligan

"Even though Mary Magdalene revisits sacred texts to emphasise Jesus’s feminist credentials, [Garth] Davis’ film is unlikely to give offence – it’s far too spiritually-minded to aggravate the faithful, although patience may be tried by the sight of Mary woman-splaining The Resurrection to the knuckleheaded Apostles."

IndieWire - Mike McCahill - 3 stars

"[The] film, accordingly, is Sunday-school tasteful, deeply politically correct, and informed by an evident level of scholarship – much ritual, sporadic speaking in tongue – even if it doesn’t always easily translate into compelling action or credible behaviour."

The Hollywood Reporter - Stephen Dalton

"The key casting weakness at the heart of Mary Magdalene is [Rooney] Mara, her porcelain-doll beauty and laser-beam gaze failing to disguise her blank presence and narrow range. Hardly an ideal match for a role that demands screen-filling, history-changing charisma. Thankfully a heavily bearded [Joaquin] Phoenix brings more firepower, playing Jesus as a doubt-wracked mystic-stoner cult leader somewhere between Charles Manson and The Dude from The Big Lebowski."

Mary Magdalene is in cinemas 16 March

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