Netflix’s Mary aims to tell a coming-of-age story about the mother of Jesus while turning Herod’s threat into a suspense plot. In Isabella Soares’s assessment, the film falls short on both fronts: it gives viewers too little access to Mary’s inner life, and its pursuit never builds the tension its premise promises. The more affecting thread is the relationship between Mary and Joseph as they face suspicion and danger together.
What Netflix’s Mary sets out to do
Directed by D.J. Caruso, Mary is a 2024 Netflix film released on December 6, 2024. Netflix describes it as a biblical coming-of-age story about Mary’s journey to give birth to Jesus. Noa Cohen plays Mary, Ido Tako plays Joseph, and Anthony Hopkins plays King Herod. Netflix’s listing notes that Caruso and producer Mary Aloe consulted religious scholars and leaders; that is Netflix’s account of the production, not independent proof of the film’s historical or theological accuracy. Netflix’s film listing and Netflix Tudum’s release coverage provide the official details.
Caruso described the film’s ambition to Tudum: “From a cinematic perspective, this film is essentially an origin story of Christianity, centered on Mary as the chosen one to deliver the world its greatest gift.” That declared focus sets up the central question of the review: does the film make Mary feel like the center of her own story?
Does Mary’s story work as a coming-of-age tale?
Soares argues that it does not give Mary enough inner conflict or development to make the coming-of-age framing convincing. A scene in which young Mary brings bread to poor people offers a glimpse of her compassion, but the review finds that the characterization does not deepen substantially beyond such moments. The film presents Mary as chosen for an extraordinary role, yet spends too little time making her particular thoughts, doubts, and growth legible.
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That gap matters because the film’s premise depends on more than the events surrounding Mary. A story centered on her needs to show how she experiences those events. As Soares sees it, the movie signals significance without building a sufficiently nuanced portrait of the person at its center.
Does Herod’s pursuit create a thriller?
The threat of Herod gives the story a potential thriller engine, but Soares finds the pursuit less intense than its premise suggests. The danger is present, yet it does not consistently generate the urgency or suspense that could carry the film when Mary’s characterization feels thin.
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The film also expands the biblical frame with creative additions that the review identifies: an attempt to connect Mary and Herod before her pregnancy, further appearances by Gabriel, and Satan’s presence. These are the film’s dramatic choices, not claims about the historical record. Their inclusion broadens the story’s supernatural and political machinery, but, in the review’s view, does not solve the underlying problem of limited character depth or sustained tension.
Why Mary and Joseph are the film’s strongest thread
Soares is more receptive to the scenes between Mary and Joseph. Their response to rumors about Mary’s pregnancy, and the danger they confront together, gives the film a more grounded source of emotional involvement than its larger claims about Mary’s development or Herod’s menace.
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This relationship works because it puts the consequences of the story on screen in human terms: trust, pressure, and shared vulnerability. It is the contrast that most clearly reveals what the film could have done more often—let the characters’ choices and feelings carry the drama rather than relying on the scale of the religious origin story or the pursuit plot.
How casting controversy fits into the review
Soares also notes controversy over Israeli actor Noa Cohen’s casting as Mary amid contemporary Israeli-Palestinian politics. It is a contextual issue raised by the review, not its sole or primary criticism. The review’s broader judgment remains focused on the film’s characterization, suspense, and comparatively stronger Mary-Joseph scenes.
Rank #4
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Verdict: an ambitious premise with an emotional center that only partly lands
Mary has a clear point of view and a familiar story to reshape, but Soares’s review finds a mismatch between its ambition and its execution. Mary’s inner life is not developed enough for the coming-of-age promise, and Herod’s pursuit does not become a consistently gripping thriller. The relationship between Mary and Joseph supplies the film’s most convincing emotional material, but it cannot fully compensate for what the larger story leaves underdrawn.
Sources: Netflix’s official film listing; Netflix Tudum; Isabella Soares’s Collider review, published December 6, 2024.
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