Last Days in the Desert

Filmmaker Rodrigo García (son of the late Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel García Marquez) imagines the 40 days that Jesus spent praying and fasting in the desert in this intimate drama. Ewan McGregor stars as both Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) and the Devil, the latter appearing in the guise of Christ like a taunting dark mirror, baiting and debating Yeshua over beliefs, ideals, and the failures of humanity. As Yeshua walks the desert (with the Colorado Desert standing in for the Holy Land) seeking guidance, he comes upon a family—an aged stonemason father (Ciarán Hinds), his dying younger wife (Ayelet Zurer), and a teenage son (Tye Sheridan) who wants to leave the desert and find a life in Jerusalem—and attempts to help them. Last Days in the Desert features plainspoken yet also eloquent dialogue within a story that plays like an enigmatic parable with no easy answers to Yeshua's questions. The striking imagery from multiple Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (The Revenant) finds stark beauty in the inhospitable landscape, and McGregor delivers a tender performance as a very human Christ who finds wonder in the world and beauty in humanity, but also acknowledges the mortality of man. While not based on a story from the Bible, the film does respectfully explore faith, family, and compassion. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)