Trailer
Plot summary
Joachim and Anne have prayed for years for a child, and the angel Gabriel comes to Joachim with a promise: they will have a daughter, and she must be given to the service of God. Mary is born in Nazareth and, as a girl, is presented at the Temple in Jerusalem, where she is consecrated and educated. As a teenager she meets Joseph, a Galilean carpenter, who asks her parents for her hand. After their betrothal, Gabriel comes to Mary with the news that she is to have a son, to be named Jesus. When the High Priests learn of her pregnancy, she is expelled from the Temple. In Judea, King Herod the Great, who fears for his throne, moves against anyone he sees as a threat.
Cast
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Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Mary (2024)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriter Timothy Michael Hayes wrote the first version of Mary in 2020 after consulting Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders and scholars, and the script went through 74 drafts before it was finalised.
- Around 75 women auditioned for the title role before newcomer Noa Cohen was cast as Mary. Director D. J. Caruso said it was important that Mary, along with most of the primary cast, be chosen from Israel to ensure authenticity.
- The decision to cast Israeli actors rather than Palestinian actors in the film was met with backlash on social media, where critics cited the broader context of the Gaza genocide.
- Morocco stood in for the Holy Land: the village of Chefchaouen was used for the Bethlehem scenes, and for scenes in Herod's first temple the production team modified a set left over from a Ridley Scott film.
- After Mary was released, director D. J. Caruso traveled to Vatican City to have the film blessed by Pope Francis, and he gave the pope a yellow scarf from the film.
