After collaborating for the first time in Spike Jonze’s Her, five years later, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara are back together in two films. Before Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot arrives later in 2018, this Easter we’ll be getting a biblical epic starring the duo and today the first trailer has arrived.
Mary Magdalene features Mara as the title character and Phoenix as Jesus, which will certainly pique anyone’s interest. Direction comes from Garth Davis who recently transitioned from Top of the Lake to the Best Picture-nominated Lion and the cast also includes Chiwetel Ejiofor as Peter and Tahar Rahim as Judas. While it will be difficult for the final project to live up to this set image, one can get the first glimpse below with the debut trailer.
Set in the Holy Land in the first century C.E., a young woman leaves her small fishing village and traditional family behind to join a radical new social movement. At its head is a charismatic leader, Jesus of Nazareth, who promises that the world is changing. Mary is searching for a new way of living, and an authenticity that is denied her by the rigid hierarchies of the day. As the notoriety of the group spread and more are drawn to follow Jesus’ inspirational message, Mary’s spiritual journey places her at the heart of a story that will lead to the capital city of Jerusalem, where she must confront the reality of Jesus’ destiny and her own place within it.
Mary Magdalene opens on March 16 in the U.K. and March 30 in the United States.