Netflix’s ‘Mary’ is a survival thriller that loses the script

Over a decade ago, megachurch celebrity pastor Joel Osteen was determined to make a movie: “Mary, Mother of the Christ.”

Years passed, writers wrote, casts were announced and walked back, publicists publicized, but by 2015, it was clear nothing would happen and eventually the film’s IMDB page went full 404.

Good news: It’s 2024, and Osteen has finally got his movie: “Mary,” being streamed by Netflix beginning on Dec. 6, directed by D.J. Caruso, written by Timothy Michael Hayes, and executive produced by, yes, Joel Osteen.

Starring, controversially to some, Israeli actress Noa Cohen as Mary, Ido Tako as Joseph, and a bearded, staggering, menacing Anthony Hopkins as Herod, the film’s marketing materials tell us:

“…Mary is shunned following a miraculous conception and forced into hiding. When King Herod orders a murderous hunt for her newborn baby, Mary and Joseph go on the run — bound by faith and driven by courage — to save his life at all costs.”

Or, as another of the film’s producers describes it: “a survival thriller.”

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