In the year AD 30 when Judea was under the control of the Roman Empire, a woman named Mary from the small town of Magdala begins to follow Jesus of Nazareth. Her family and father try to interfere with her departing from her home, but she sends them away. She accepts baptism from Jesus and accepts his charge for her and the other apostles to baptize in the name of the Father. She appears to be fully as one with the other apostles in asserting the authority of the spirit of Jesus working through her on behalf of the followers of Jesus. This causes conflict with the other male disciples, including Saint Peter. Mary follows Jesus all the way to the Crucifixion and Resurrection. In the end she is accepted by Peter as a faithful follower of Jesus. Peter accepts her report of the resurrection of Jesus and encourages the other apostles to also accept her message of the Resurrection and to proclaim it as part of the kerygma and good news proclaimed by Jesus as consistent with his ministry when he was alive. In the closing captions, Mary is first identified as having been called a common prostitute by the early church in the first millennium. In the third millennium, she has come to be accepted as one of the followers of Jesus who was among the twelve apostles and together with them.
In February 2016, Rooney Mara joined the cast of the film portraying the role of Mary Magdalene, with Garth Davis directing the film, Universal Pictures, Film4 Productions and See-Saw Films will co-produce the film, with Iain Canning and Emile Sherman serving as producers. In April 2016, Mara's partner Joaquin Phoenix was in talks to portray the role of Jesus Christ. In July 2016, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Tahar Rahim joined the cast of the film. In September 2016, Hadas Yaron joined the cast of the film. Hildur Guðnadóttir and Jóhann Jóhannsson composed the film's score, the latter's final score before his death in February 2018. Principal photography began on October 3, 2016 and concluded on December 2, 2016. The film was shot in Rome and in multiple locations in Southern Italy including Matera in Basilicata, Gravina in Puglia in Apulia, Trapani in Sicily and Naples in Campania.
Release
In February 2016, it was reported that The Weinstein Company would distribute the film. It was originally scheduled to be released in the United States and Canada on November 24, 2017. In August 2017, the release was pushed back to March 30, 2018. In January 2018, it was pulled from the schedule. In March 2018, it was announced The Weinstein Company would no longer distribute the film, and the producers were attempting to find another distributor to release the film. IFC Films distributed the film in the United States on April 12, 2019. The film had its world premiere at the National Gallery on February 26, 2018. It screened at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival on February 28, 2018. It was released in the United Kingdom on March 16, 2018, and in Australia on March 22, 2018.
Reception
According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 45%, based on 109 reviews, with an average rating of 5.55/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "Mary Magdalene has obvious reverence for its subject; unfortunately, it lacks enough momentum or depth of character to make her story interesting." At Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 48 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Nick Allen of RogerEbert.com gave Mary Magdalene 4 stars, calling it "an extraordinary film" and writing that it "moved me in a way that no previous film about Christianity ever has."
