What Caused So Much Disappointment on Mary’s Film on Netflix?
The underlying problem that has affected the 2024 film about Mary
If you’re a fervent Catholic, you must be one of those who have been disappointed with the 2024 film Mary. I can’t count the number of things that Catholic reviewers have found wrong, inaccurate or disturbing about the said movie that is now on Netflix.
Many point out its Biblical inaccuracies. Some discuss the parts that went against Catholic tradition or beliefs. Others spoke against the language or the way the characters were portrayed.
I myself have looked forward to watching this film with my family during the Christmas season. However, after all of these negative reviews, I thought twice about letting my family watch it without warning them of any false ideas they could get by doing so.
Having said that, let me go straight to one observation that I thought brought about all these negative feedback about the film.
In my opinion, this movie failed to satisfy many Catholic viewers because it lacked one thing. Yes, the absence of this one thing probably brought about so much of what we perceived to be wrong about it.
Before that, let’s first set things in the right perspective.
As human beings, our ability to grasp the world around us comes mostly from our five senses. This includes our sense of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. Through these senses, we perceive what’s going on in the world we live in. And after we perceive them, we process this information and make our analysis and conclusions.
However, if you have ever watched the movie “The Bells of St. Mary’s”, you must have been familiar with one of the scenes where Bing Crosby coached a student about her assignment regarding the five senses. In that scene, Bing who plays Father Chuck O'Malley told the student that there is one more sense that we should use in addition to these five senses. This, he said, was common sense.
Indeed, without common sense, how do we understand all of these things we perceive in the physical world?
Now going back to the movie, I think those who made it were not lacking in their use of the five senses. The scenes were made to capture the viewer’s imagination. They also invoked the human emotion and did their best to present a memorable movie experience for the audience.
However, despite all these, it still lacked one thing. And no, it’s not the common sense I previously mentioned above. But another sense. Something that could help us perceive beyond the physical realm.
Being a film about Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, shouldn’t this involve the spiritual realm as well? Indeed, this is what I was searching for in the movie. That “spiritual sense”. A sense of the sacred. A sense of the holy and the Divine!
Because we can do our best trying to create a movie where we make each character act as humanly as possible. But if we fail to depict these characters also in consideration of the “spiritual”, we would still be lacking something very important for the story to unfold. In fact, I think the word here should be more than “important”. It should be “indispensable”.
I understand the intention of making the characters more relatable. But we can never compromise the truth to create an image we think the audience could like more. It may be a difficult task, but we can imbue the characters with holiness without letting them lose touch of their humanity.
In the case of Mary, let us remember that she carried in her womb not only an earthly king, but the King of Kings! She gave birth to Jesus Christ who is both fully human and fully Divine.
(You can read more about my feedback on Mary’s depiction in the film in my article “My Unfiltered Review of Mary’s Character In Netflix’s 2024 Film”)
And while those who made this film may think they have succeeded in depicting the human part of the story, it has tremendously failed in what is sacred and Divine.
When I recall the scene of the Annunciation, I can’t forget how shocked I was by the way the Archangel Gabriel was portrayed. Had I not known what movie I was watching, I would have thought that the angel in the film was a villain who was tempting or harassing a young woman. There was no “spiritual light” in the said scene. No peace or joy was imparted where such should have been present. After all, wasn’t the angel proclaiming the good news to Mary?
“The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.’” - Luke 1:30 (NRSVCE)
Recalling the experience of the visionaries on the apparition of an angel in Fatima, an angel’s presence may indeed be frightening, but it need not be dark or bordering on being evil. It is only terrible in the sense that it is so holy and the light is too much for us to bear.
Further, Mary’s words in the film lacked the full substance of faith, holiness and humility contained in Luke’s Gospel. Why limit Mary’s words to “let it be me”? Why not include the part about being the servant or handmaid of the Lord and surrendering to His holy will? Again, this lacks the sense of the sacred, that spiritual sense of goodness coming from the fullness of faith and humility.
It is utterly disappointing to watch a film about Mary and not be satisfied about it in the “spiritual sense”. Honestly speaking, I think I got more of this spiritual sense from watching The Lord of the Rings (whether the film or the series) rather than from watching this movie on Netflix.
How could the hobbits and elves express so much spiritual sense and a film about Jesus’ own mother lack in this respect?
I think this only shows that even with our very best, we still need God’s light to complete a noble thing we desire to do. We need this in everything, even in making movies.
Like the real Mary, may we all have the humility to submit to God’s will, trusting in His grace, power and wisdom. Only then can our labors bring the sweetest fruits and our best intentions be fulfilled.
"Neither of us was strong enough. There might not be anyone in Middle-earth who is. But perhaps, the Elves need only remember that it is not strength that overcomes darkness, but light. Armies may rise, hearts may fail, yet still light endures and is mightier than strength. For in its presence, all darkness must flee."
- Celebrimbor, The Rings of Power
“There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone…” - John 1:6-9 (NRSVCE)
Naturalism.
The world is being conditioned to not believe in the supernatural. Another deception of the Evil One.
Thank you for putting this into words--not for the Mary film, specifically (which I haven't seen) but for the general lack of "spiritual sense" and spiritual sensitivity in film and fiction both. It strikes me as a tendency to pull saints and other people of high spiritual caliber down to the level of ordinary people (with the excuse, as you say, of making them "relatable") as opposed to inspiring people upwards toward the level of saints. Our spiritual figureheads should provide an example for us to emulate rather than being depicted in a way that essentially says, "Well, it's OK that you have all these flaws because, see, Mary has these flaws too."
The dearth of spiritual sense in fiction is what's inspired my own newsletter, Deus in Fabula, which I subtitled "A quest for spiritual, devotional, and mystical realism in fiction." That "realism" corresponds to your idea of "spiritual sense." I, too, have been disappointed with, say, a novel that has the potential to express something of this sense but falls short. One recent historical novel had a scene in which a saint endured torture, and I hoped that the chapter would be told from the point of view of the saint and depict his inner reliance on God's presence to overcome his suffering. But the author instead told that scene from the POV of the torturer and had the saint do nothing more than quote scripture. Like I said, disappointing.
My favorite book and movie that does succeed in this spiritual sense if Franz Werfel's The Song of Bernadette and the 1946 film of the same name. I also like Lloyd Douglas' The Robe (but not the movie). I often use these as examples in my posts on Deus in Fabula.
In any case, do share more like this!