Directed by Rodrigo García (Mother and Child, Albert Nobbs), Last Days in the Desert imagines a chapter during Jesus' forty days and forty nights in the desert. In the film, Ewan McGregor plays both the Jewish preacher and a manifestation of the Devil, who debates and taunts Jesus. The film's plot turns on the Son of God's encounter with a family in crisis: the mother (Ayelet Zurer) is dying, and the father (Ciarán Hinds) is trying to sternly quell their teenage son's (Tye Sheridan) desire to leave the isolated desert camp and live in Jerusalem. In an era when the combination of religion and cinema brings to mind such heavy-handed right-wing propaganda pictures as Fireproof and God's Not Dead, it is heartening to find a serious film, an art film, interpreting and contending with Scripture. I did not find the experience vastly moving, but it is engaging on an intellectual level, particularly the scenes in which McGregor spars with himself as both messiah (caring, exhausted, wistful) and fallen angel (charismatic, diabolical, jaded). The film in general is an excellent showcase for McGregor, an enduring and often undervalued actor and star. It also another showcase for cinematography wizard Emmanuel Lubezki, whose unrivaled, Terrence Malick-endorsed eye for atmosphere and texture transforms California's majestic Colorado Desert into the Judaean Desert.

B

I missed it in theaters due to a limited release and selective shows