By Nick Olszyk, Catholic World Report, Dec. 5, 2024
Nick Olszyk teaches theology at Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Oregon. He was raised on bad science fiction movies, jelly beans, and TV shows that make fun of bad science fiction movies. Visit him online and listen to his podcast at “Catholic Cinema Crusade”.
The Joel Osteen movie on Netflix seems to have been created with good intentions, but the story is so strange, haphazard, and poorly written that any profundity and meaning are easily lost.
FCC Rating: TV-14
USCCB Rating: Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating: 1/2 reel out of 5 reels
When I first heard that famed televangelist Joel Osteen was making a movie about the Mother of God, I thought it was from The Babylon Bee (“Fake News You Can Trust”). But the news was real. Osteen is the producer of the Netflix film Mary, and he has stated, “This is MARY like you’ve never seen her before.”
Still, as the release date approached, I became more optimistic. It film was directed by DJ Caruso, whose 2022 Shut In was the ninth best film of that year. It was also filmed in the Holy Land with a largely Israeli cast, including Sir Anthony Hopkins as King Herod. But as the release date approached, the firestorm got more intense. Conservatives wondered if it would deny the Immaculate Conception or Perpetual Virginity. Progressives had a problem with a Jewish woman portraying…a Jewish woman? …
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